Bantam Books, Inc., et al. v. Sullivan et al.

Decided February 18, 1963. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 118 · 372 U.S. 58 (1963) · Cited 1,188 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 8–1.

“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.

• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Marcus v. Search Warrant of Property · 367 U.S. 717 (1961)
• Smith v. California · 361 U.S. 147 (1959)
• Kingsley Books, Inc. v. Brown · 354 U.S. 436 (1957)
• Times Film Corp. v. City of Chicago · 365 U.S. 43 (1961)
• Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. McGrath · 341 U.S. 123 (1951)
• Near v. Minnesota Ex Rel. Olson · 283 U.S. 697 (1931)
• Lovell v. City of Griffin · 303 U.S. 444 (1938)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Winters v. New York · 333 U.S. 507 (1948)
• Cobbledick v. United States · 309 U.S. 323 (1940)
• Truax v. Raich · 239 U.S. 33 (1915)
• Terry v. Adams · 345 U.S. 461 (1953)
• Niemotko v. Maryland · 340 U.S. 268 (1951)
• Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. United States · 316 U.S. 407 (1942)
• Kunz v. New York · 340 U.S. 290 (1951)
• Staub v. City of Baxley · 355 U.S. 313 (1958)
• Terrace v. Thompson · 263 U.S. 197 (1923)
• Dahnke-Walker Milling Co. v. Bondurant · 257 U.S. 282 (1921)
• Butler v. Michigan · 352 U.S. 380 (1957)

Cited by

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

• Murthy v. Missouri · 603 U.S. 43 (2024)
• National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo · 602 U.S. 175 (2024)
• Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. City of Dallas · 390 U.S. 676 (1968)
• Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad · 420 U.S. 546 (1975)
• Alexander v. United States · 509 U.S. 544 (1993)
• Freedman v. Maryland · 380 U.S. 51 (1965)
• Meese v. Keene · 481 U.S. 465 (1987)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
• Vance v. Universal Amusement Co. · 445 U.S. 308 (1980)
• Ward v. Rock Against Racism · 491 U.S. 781 (1989)
• Nebraska Press Assn. v. Stuart · 427 U.S. 539 (1976)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• Jacobellis v. Ohio · 378 U.S. 184 (1964)
• Heller v. New York · 413 U.S. 483 (1973)
• A Quantity of Copies of Books v. Kansas · 378 U.S. 205 (1964)
• Brown v. Glines · 444 U.S. 348 (1980)
• Morse v. Republican Party of Virginia · 517 U.S. 186 (1996)
• Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth · 408 U.S. 564 (1972)
• Elrod v. Burns · 427 U.S. 347 (1976)
• Hernandez v. New York · 500 U.S. 352 (1991)
• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• Volt Info. Sciences, Inc. v. Bd. of Trustees of Leland Stanford Jr. U. · 489 U.S. 468 (1989)
• Pell v. Procunier · 417 U.S. 817 (1974)
• Dombrowski v. Pfister · 380 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Branzburg v. Hayes · 408 U.S. 665 (1972)
• FW/PBS, Inc. v. City of Dallas · 493 U.S. 215 (1990)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Stanley v. Georgia · 394 U.S. 557 (1969)
• City of Lakewood v. Plain Dealer Publishing Co. · 486 U.S. 750 (1988)

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).