Powell v. McCormack
United States Supreme Court
395 U.S. 486, 89 S. Ct. 1944 (1969)
- Written by Megan Petersen, JD
Facts
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (plaintiff) was elected to serve the eighteenth district of New York in the United States House of Representatives in the 90th Congress. However, pursuant to a House resolution, Powell was prevented from taking his seat. The resolution was passed in response to the results of an investigation in the 89th Congress that determined that Powell, as chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, deceived Congress as to his travel expenses and authorized inappropriate salary payments to his wife. After Powell was prevented from taking his seat, he and several of his constituents filed suit in federal district court against McCormack (defendant) and five other members of Congress, alleging that the House could exclude Powell only if he failed to meet the standing requirements of age, citizenship, and residence claimed in Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution—requirements that the House found Powell met. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Warren, C.J.)
Concurrence (Douglas, J.)
Dissent (Stewart, J.)
What to do next…
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.