Aptheker et al. v. Secretary of State

Decided June 22, 1964. Arthur Joseph Goldberg delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 461 · 378 U.S. 500 (1964) · Cited 709 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“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.

• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Kent v. Dulles · 357 U.S. 116 (1958)
• Scales v. United States · 367 U.S. 203 (1961)
• American Communications Assn. v. Douds · 339 U.S. 382 (1950)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• Schware v. Board of Bar Examiners of NM · 353 U.S. 232 (1957)
• Wieman v. Updegraff · 344 U.S. 183 (1952)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez · 372 U.S. 144 (1963)
• Communist Party of United States v. Subversive Activities Control Bd. · 367 U.S. 1 (1961)
• Adler v. Board of Ed. of City of New York · 342 U.S. 485 (1952)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• United States v. National Dairy Products Corp. · 372 U.S. 29 (1963)
• Harisiades v. Shaughnessy · 342 U.S. 580 (1952)
• Schneiderman v. United States · 320 U.S. 118 (1943)
• Galvan v. Press · 347 U.S. 522 (1954)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Flowers · 377 U.S. 288 (1964)
• Louisiana Ex Rel. Gremillion v. National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People · 366 U.S. 293 (1961)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Bolling v. Sharpe · 347 U.S. 497 (1954)
• Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. McGrath · 341 U.S. 123 (1951)
• Nebbia v. New York · 291 U.S. 502 (1934)
• Greene v. McElroy · 360 U.S. 474 (1959)
• Winters v. New York · 333 U.S. 507 (1948)
• Dennis v. United States · 341 U.S. 494 (1951)
• United States v. Raines · 362 U.S. 17 (1960)
• Virginian Railway Co. v. System Federation No. 40 · 300 U.S. 515 (1937)
• Carmichael v. Southern Coal & Coke Co. · 301 U.S. 495 (1937)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Robel · 389 U.S. 258 (1967)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• Haig v. Agee · 453 U.S. 280 (1981)
• Elfbrandt v. Russell · 384 U.S. 11 (1966)
• Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Zemel v. Rusk · 381 U.S. 1 (1965)
• Regan v. Wald · 468 U.S. 222 (1984)
• Keyishian v. Board of Regents of Univ. of State of NY · 385 U.S. 589 (1967)
• Roe v. Wade · 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• Hamdi v. Rumsfeld · 542 U.S. 507 (2004)
• Zwickler v. Koota · 389 U.S. 241 (1967)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Claiborne Hardware Co. · 458 U.S. 886 (1982)
• United States v. Guest · 383 U.S. 745 (1966)
• United States v. Brown · 381 U.S. 437 (1965)
• Regan v. Time, Inc. · 468 U.S. 641 (1984)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Kolender v. Lawson · 461 U.S. 352 (1983)
• Hamling v. United States · 418 U.S. 87 (1974)
• Dombrowski v. Pfister · 380 U.S. 479 (1965)
• United States v. United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan · 407 U.S. 297 (1972)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• Regional Rail Reorganization Act Cases · 419 U.S. 102 (1974)
• Brandenburg v. Ohio · 395 U.S. 444 (1969)
• City of Chicago v. Morales · 527 U.S. 41 (1999)
• Mathews v. Diaz · 426 U.S. 67 (1976)
• Zablocki v. Redhail · 434 U.S. 374 (1978)
• Berger v. New York · 388 U.S. 41 (1967)
• United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. · 513 U.S. 64 (1994)
• Dennis v. United States · 384 U.S. 855 (1966)

Official text

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). 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).