Lubin v. Panish

415 U.S. 709 (1974)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
L
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Lubin v. Panish

United States Supreme Court
415 U.S. 709 (1974)

  • Written by Heather Whittemore, JD

Facts

California (defendant) required all candidates for federal, state, and county elections to pay nonrefundable filing fees to appear on a ballot. Candidates for county-supervisor positions were required to pay a filing fee of $701.60. Write-in candidates were also required to pay the filing fees. There were no alternatives to the filing fees. If a candidate could not pay the fee, he could not appear on the ballot. Donald Lubin (plaintiff) wanted to run for county supervisor but was unable to pay the filing fee. Lubin filed a lawsuit in state court alleging that California’s filing-fee requirement violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution by preventing him and other indigent people from running for office. California justified its filing-fee requirement as a means of preventing unserious candidates from overcrowding ballots and confusing voters. The California Supreme Court upheld California’s filing-fee requirement as a valid means of limiting ballot access. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Burger, C.J.)

Concurrence (Blackmun, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 814,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 814,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 814,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Legislation and Regulation

Key Terms