Poe v. Ullman

Poe v. Ullman
Argued March 1–2, 1961
Decided June 19, 1961
Full case namePoe et al. v. Ullman, State's Attorney
Citations367 U.S. 497 (more)
81 S. Ct. 1752; 6 L. Ed. 2d 989
Case history
Prior147 Conn. 48, 156 A.2d 508 (1959); probable jurisdiction noted, 362 U.S. 987 (1960).
SubsequentRehearing denied, 368 U.S. 869 (1961).
Holding
Connecticut law barring possession of birth control not ripe for constitutional challenge because of lack of enforcement.
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
PluralityFrankfurter, joined by Warren, Clark, Whitaker
ConcurrenceBrennan (in judgment)
DissentDouglas
DissentHarlan
DissentStewart
DissentBlack

Poe v. Ullman, 367 U.S. 497 (1961), was a United States Supreme Court case declining to exercise pre-enforcement judicial review of a Connecticut law banning the use of contraceptives and preventing doctors from recommending them. The lawsuit was deemed unripe because after the challenged law's 1879 enactment, it had only been cited in a single 1940 prosecution, and drug stores openly sold contraceptives. Five years later, Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut Executive Director Estelle Griswold appealed her conviction under this law, securing its overturning in Griswold v. Connecticut.