Arcara, District Attorney of Erie County v. Cloud Books, Inc., Dba Village Book & News Store, et al.

Decided July 7, 1986. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 85-437 · 478 U.S. 697 (1986) · Cited 341 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.

• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Near v. Minnesota Ex Rel. Olson · 283 U.S. 697 (1931)
• Marsh v. Alabama · 326 U.S. 501 (1946)
• Grayned v. City of Rockford · 408 U.S. 104 (1972)
• Wayte v. United States · 470 U.S. 598 (1985)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad · 420 U.S. 546 (1975)
• United States v. Albertini · 472 U.S. 675 (1985)
• Minneapolis Star & Tribune Co. v. Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue · 460 U.S. 575 (1983)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Pell v. Procunier · 417 U.S. 817 (1974)
• Branzburg v. Hayes · 408 U.S. 665 (1972)
• Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence · 468 U.S. 288 (1984)
• City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc. · 475 U.S. 41 (1986)
• Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Labor Union, Inc. · 433 U.S. 119 (1977)
• Freedman v. Maryland · 380 U.S. 51 (1965)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
• Smith v. California · 361 U.S. 147 (1959)
• Oklahoma Press Publishing Co. v. Walling · 327 U.S. 186 (1946)
• Schad v. Borough of Mount Ephraim · 452 U.S. 61 (1981)
• Bates v. City of Little Rock · 361 U.S. 516 (1960)
• Marcus v. Search Warrant of Property · 367 U.S. 717 (1961)
• Healy v. James · 408 U.S. 169 (1972)
• Associated Press v. United States · 326 U.S. 1 (1945)
• Breard v. Alexandria · 341 U.S. 622 (1951)
• Lorain Journal Co. v. United States · 342 U.S. 143 (1951)
• Associated Press v. National Labor Relations Board · 301 U.S. 103 (1937)

Cited by

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

• Alexander v. United States · 509 U.S. 544 (1993)
• Fort Wayne Books, Inc. v. Indiana · 489 U.S. 46 (1989)
• TikTok Inc. v. Garland · 604 U.S. 56 (2025)
• City of Lakewood v. Plain Dealer Publishing Co. · 486 U.S. 750 (1988)
• Waters v. Churchill · 511 U.S. 661 (1994)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Superior Court Trial Lawyers Ass'n · 493 U.S. 411 (1990)

Official text

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

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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).