Arkansas Writers' Project, Inc. v. Ragland, Commissioner of Revenue of Arkansas

Decided April 22, 1987. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 85-1370 · 481 U.S. 221 (1987) · Cited 472 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 7–2.

“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.

• Minneapolis Star & Tribune Co. v. Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue · 460 U.S. 575 (1983)
• Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley · 408 U.S. 92 (1972)
• Carey v. Brown · 447 U.S. 455 (1980)
• Federal Communications Commission v. League of Women Voters of California · 468 U.S. 364 (1984)
• Consolidated Edison Co. of New York v. Public Service Commission · 447 U.S. 530 (1980)
• Grosjean v. American Press Co. · 297 U.S. 233 (1936)
• Regan v. Taxation With Representation of Washington · 461 U.S. 540 (1983)
• Orr v. Orr · 440 U.S. 268 (1979)
• Regan v. Time, Inc. · 468 U.S. 641 (1984)
• Neil v. Biggers · 409 U.S. 188 (1972)
• Connick Ex Rel. Parish of Orleans v. Myers · 461 U.S. 138 (1983)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc. · 454 U.S. 464 (1982)
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• Massachusetts Board of Retirement v. Murgia · 427 U.S. 307 (1976)
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)
• Harris v. McRae · 448 U.S. 297 (1980)
• Martinez v. California · 444 U.S. 277 (1980)
• Widmar v. Vincent · 454 U.S. 263 (1981)
• Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego · 453 U.S. 490 (1981)
• Maher v. Roe · 432 U.S. 464 (1977)
• Police Department of Chicago v. Mosley · 408 U.S. 92 (1972)
• Cammarano v. United States · 358 U.S. 498 (1959)
• Armco Inc. v. Hardesty · 467 U.S. 638 (1984)

Cited by

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

• Leathers v. Medlock · 499 U.S. 439 (1991)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of the New York State Crime Victims Board · 502 U.S. 105 (1991)
• Texas Monthly, Inc. v. Bullock · 489 U.S. 1 (1989)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Reed v. Town of Gilbert · 576 U.S. 155 (2015)
• Rust v. Sullivan · 500 U.S. 173 (1991)
• Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement · 505 U.S. 123 (1992)
• City of Los Angeles v. Alameda Books, Inc. · 535 U.S. 425 (2002)
• National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley · 524 U.S. 569 (1998)
• Legal Services Corp. v. Velazquez · 531 U.S. 533 (2001)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• DaimlerChrysler Corp. v. Cuno · 547 U.S. 332 (2006)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
• City of Cincinnati v. Discovery Network, Inc. · 507 U.S. 410 (1993)
• Madsen v. Women's Health Center, Inc. · 512 U.S. 753 (1994)
• Burson v. Freeman · 504 U.S. 191 (1992)
• McKesson Corp. v. Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, Fla. Dept. of Business Regulation · 496 U.S. 18 (1990)
• United States v. National Treasury Employees Union · 513 U.S. 454 (1995)
• City of Ladue v. Gilleo · 512 U.S. 43 (1994)
• Florida Star v. B. J. F. · 491 U.S. 524 (1989)
• Los Angeles Police Department v. United Reporting Publishing Corp. · 528 U.S. 32 (1999)
• Jimmy Swaggart Ministries v. Board of Equalization of California · 493 U.S. 378 (1990)
• National Private Truck Council, Inc. v. Oklahoma Tax Comm'n · 515 U.S. 582 (1995)
• City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising of Austin, LLC · 596 U.S. 61 (2022)

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).