Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority

Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority
Argued February 21, 1961
Decided April 17, 1961
Full case nameWilliam H. Burton, Appellant, v. Wilmington Parking Authority, et al.
Citations365 U.S. 715 (more)
81 S. Ct. 856; 6 L. Ed. 2d 45; 1961 U.S. LEXIS 1297
Case history
PriorDelaware Supreme Court
Holding
In view of all the circumstances of this case, including the facts that the restaurant was physically and financially an integral part of a public building, built and maintained with public funds, devoted to a public parking service, and owned and operated by an agency of the State for public purposes, the State was a joint participant in the operation of the restaurant, and its refusal to serve appellant violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Earl Warren
Associate Justices
Hugo Black · Felix Frankfurter
William O. Douglas · Tom C. Clark
John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr.
Charles E. Whittaker · Potter Stewart
Case opinions
MajorityClark, joined by Warren, Black, Douglas, Brennan
ConcurrenceStewart
DissentFrankfurter
DissentHarlan, joined by Whittaker
Laws applied
Fourteenth Amendment, the Delaware Code

Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority, 365 U.S. 715 (1961), was a United States Supreme Court case that decided that the Equal Protection Clause applies to private business that operates in a relationship to a government that is close to the point that it becomes a "state actor."