Monroe v. Pape

Petitioners

Monroe, et al.

Respondents

Pape, et al.

Petitioners' Claim

That a warrantless search of their home by police, which included demeaning treatment of the entire family, gave the Monroe family cause to bring suit for civil damages against the city of Chicago and the police officers involved in the search.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioners

Donald Page Moore

Chief Lawyer for Respondents

Sydney R. Drebin

Justices for the Court

Hugo Lafayette Black, William J. Brennan, Jr., Tom C. Clark, John Marshall Harlan II, William O. Douglas (writing for the Court), Felix Frankfurter, Potter Stewart, Earl Warren, Charles Evans Whittaker

Justices Dissenting

None

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

20 February 1961

Decision

Upheld the petitioners' claim and overturned two lower court rulings dismissing their right to pursue civil damages against police authorities, while affirming the lower courts' dismissal of petitioners' claims against the city of Chicago.

Related Cases

• United States v. Classic, 313 U.S. 299 (1941).
• Screws v. United States, 325 U.S. 91 (1945).
• Williams v. United States, 341 U.S. 97 (1951).
• Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978).

Further Readings

• Biskupic, Joan and Elder Witt, eds. Guide to the U.S. Supreme Court, 3rd ed. Washington: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1990.
• Hall, Kermit L., ed. Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States, New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.