Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co.

Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co.
Argued November 12, 1969
Decided June 1, 1970
Full case nameSandra Adickes, Petitioner v. S. H. Kress & Company
Citations398 U.S. 144 (more)
90 S. Ct. 1598; 26 L. Ed. 2d 142
Case history
PriorCert. to the United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit
Holding
A party moving for summary judgment carries the burden of proof to establish a lack of factual controversy.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
Hugo Black · William O. Douglas
John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr.
Potter Stewart · Byron White
Thurgood Marshall
Case opinions
MajorityHarlan, joined by Burger, Stewart, White, Blackmun
ConcurrenceBlack
DissentDouglas
DissentBrennan (in part)
Marshall took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Laws applied
Rule 56(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 42 U.S.C. §1983

Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144 (1970), was a United States Supreme Court case where the majority ruling, written by Justice Harlan, asserted that the burden of showing a lack of factual controversy rests upon the party asserting the summary judgment. It was later challenged by Celotex Corp. v. Catrett (1986), but the case was not officially overruled. While the issue before the Supreme Court was a fairly technical matter, the subject matter regarded the violation of white teacher Sandra Adickes' civil rights in the segregated South, after being refused service at a restaurant because she wished to eat with her black students.