Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections

E93897
United States Supreme Court case constitutional law case voting rights case

Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections is a 1966 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down state poll taxes in elections as unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause, reinforcing protections against wealth-based voting restrictions.

Statements (44)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States Supreme Court case ⓘ
constitutional law case ⓘ
voting rights case ⓘ
appliesTo local elections ⓘ
state elections ⓘ
concerns Equal Protection Clause ⓘ
Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ
surface form: Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

poll tax ⓘ
voting rights ⓘ
wealth-based voting restrictions ⓘ
doesNotRelyOn 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ
surface form: Twenty-Fourth Amendment
hasChiefJusticeAtDecision Earl Warren ⓘ
hasCitation 383 U.S. 663 ⓘ
hasConstitutionalBasis Equal Protection Clause ⓘ
surface form: Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause
hasCountry United States of America ⓘ
surface form: United States
hasCourt Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
hasDecisionDate 1966-03-24 ⓘ
hasDecisionType landmark decision ⓘ
hasDissentingOpinionBy Hugo L. Black NERFINISHED ⓘ
John Marshall Harlan II NERFINISHED ⓘ
hasJurisdiction Virginia ⓘ
surface form: Commonwealth of Virginia
hasMajorityOpinionBy William O. Douglas NERFINISHED ⓘ
hasPage 663 ⓘ
hasPetitioner Annie E. Harper ⓘ
hasReporter United States Reports ⓘ
hasRespondent Virginia Board of Elections ⓘ
hasVolume 383 ⓘ
hasYearDecided 1966 ⓘ
holding State poll taxes in elections violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ
Wealth or payment of a fee cannot be made an electoral standard ⓘ
impact invalidated poll taxes in state and local elections across the United States ⓘ
isPartOf Warren Court era ⓘ
surface form: Warren Court jurisprudence
legalPrinciple Right to vote is too precious, too fundamental to be burdened by a price tag ⓘ
overruledPrecedent Breedlove v. Suttles ⓘ
prohibits conditioning the right to vote on payment of a poll tax ⓘ
reinforces prohibition of wealth discrimination in voting ⓘ
relatedTo Baker v. Carr ⓘ
Reynolds v. Sims decision ⓘ
surface form: Reynolds v. Sims

Voting Rights Act of 1965 ⓘ
strengthens judicial protection of the franchise ⓘ
subjectMatter civil rights ⓘ
election law ⓘ
equal protection jurisprudence ⓘ
timeContext Civil Rights Era ⓘ

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.