44 Liquormart, Inc. and Peoples Super Liquor Stores, Inc. v. Rhode Island and Rhode Island Liquor Stores Association

Decided May 13, 1996. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 94-1140 · 517 U.S. 484 (1996) · Cited 685 times

Holding

The judgment is reversed.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission · 447 U.S. 557 (1980)
• California v. LaRue · 409 U.S. 109 (1972)
• Posadas De Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Co. of Puerto Rico · 478 U.S. 328 (1986)
• Rubin v. Coors Brewing Co. · 514 U.S. 476 (1995)
• City of Cincinnati v. Discovery Network, Inc. · 507 U.S. 410 (1993)
• Linmark Associates, Inc. v. Township of Willingboro · 431 U.S. 85 (1977)
• United States v. Edge Broadcasting Co. · 509 U.S. 418 (1993)
• Bigelow v. Virginia · 421 U.S. 809 (1975)
• Edenfield v. Fane · 507 U.S. 761 (1993)
• Florida Bar v. Went for It, Inc. · 515 U.S. 618 (1995)
• Board of Trustees of State Univ. of NY v. Fox · 492 U.S. 469 (1989)
• Capital Cities Cable, Inc. v. Crisp · 467 U.S. 691 (1984)
• Craig v. Boren · 429 U.S. 190 (1976)
• Friedman v. Rogers · 440 U.S. 1 (1979)
• Perry v. Sindermann · 408 U.S. 593 (1972)
• Carey v. Population Services International · 431 U.S. 678 (1977)
• Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Assn. · 436 U.S. 447 (1978)
• Whitney v. California · 274 U.S. 357 (1927)
• California Retail Liquor Dealers Assn. v. Midcal Aluminum, Inc. · 445 U.S. 97 (1980)
• Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations · 413 U.S. 376 (1973)
• Larkin v. Grendel's Den, Inc. · 459 U.S. 116 (1982)
• New York State Liquor Authority v. Bellanca · 452 U.S. 714 (1981)
• Ibanez v. Florida Dept. of Business and Professional Regulation, Bd. of Accountancy · 512 U.S. 136 (1994)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• Brandenburg v. Ohio · 395 U.S. 444 (1969)
• Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego · 453 U.S. 490 (1981)
• Kovacs v. Cooper · 336 U.S. 77 (1949)
• Gitlow v. New York · 268 U.S. 652 (1925)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly · 533 U.S. 525 (2001)
• Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman · 581 U.S. 37 (2017)
• Thompson v. Western States Medical Center · 535 U.S. 357 (2002)
• Greater New Orleans Broadcasting Assn., Inc. v. United States · 527 U.S. 173 (1999)
• Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Assn. v. Thomas · 588 U.S. 504 (2019)
• Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. · 551 U.S. 449 (2007)
• Glickman v. Wileman Brothers & Elliott, Inc. · 521 U.S. 457 (1997)
• Matal v. Tam · 582 U.S. 218 (2017)
• Milavetz, Gallop & Milavetz, P. A. v. United States · 559 U.S. 229 (2010)
• Granholm v. Heald · 544 U.S. 460 (2005)
• Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc. v. Village of Stratton · 536 U.S. 150 (2002)
• United States v. United Foods, Inc. · 533 U.S. 405 (2001)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

John Paul Stevens’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1996). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).