Williams v. North Carolina (1945)

Williams v. North Carolina
Argued October 13, 1944
Decided May 21, 1945
Full case nameWilliams, et al. v. State of North Carolina
Citations325 U.S. 226 (more)
65 S. Ct. 1092; 89 L. Ed. 1577
Case history
PriorState v. Williams et al., 224 N.C. 183, 29 S.E.2d 744 (1944).
SubsequentRehearing denied, 325 U.S. 895
Court membership
Chief Justice
Harlan F. Stone
Associate Justices
Owen Roberts · Hugo Black
Stanley F. Reed · Felix Frankfurter
William O. Douglas · Frank Murphy
Robert H. Jackson · Wiley B. Rutledge
Case opinions
MajorityFrankfruter
ConcurrenceFrankfurter
DissentRutledge
DissentBlack, joined by Douglas

Williams v. North Carolina, 325 U.S. 226 (1945), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a divorce decree granted by Nevada was not entitled to full faith and credit in North Carolina because the Nevada court lacked jurisdiction over the parties. It was a follow-up to the Supreme Court's decision in Williams v. North Carolina (1942). The Williams cases are part of a long line of Supreme Court decisions grappling with issues of divorce jurisdiction and full faith and credit in a federal system. The ability of states to reexamine divorce decrees from other states on jurisdictional grounds was later limited by cases such as Sherrer v. Sherrer (1948) and Johnson v. Muelberger (1951), at least where the defendant spouse had participated in the divorce proceedings.