Bates et al. v. State Bar of Arizona

Decided June 27, 1977. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 76-316 · 433 U.S. 350 (1977) · Cited 1,096 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 5–4.

“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)
• Cantor v. Detroit Edison Co. · 428 U.S. 579 (1976)
• Parker v. Brown · 317 U.S. 341 (1943)
• Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar · 421 U.S. 773 (1975)
• Bigelow v. Virginia · 421 U.S. 809 (1975)
• Semler v. Oregon State Board of Dental Examiners · 294 U.S. 608 (1935)
• Head v. New Mexico Board of Examiners in Optometry · 374 U.S. 424 (1963)
• Valentine v. Chrestensen · 316 U.S. 52 (1942)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. · 348 U.S. 483 (1955)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Gissel Packing Co. · 395 U.S. 575 (1969)
• Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations · 413 U.S. 376 (1973)
• Linmark Associates, Inc. v. Township of Willingboro · 431 U.S. 85 (1977)
• Cohen v. Hurley · 366 U.S. 117 (1961)
• Faretta v. California · 422 U.S. 806 (1975)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Dombrowski v. Pfister · 380 U.S. 479 (1965)
• United States v. Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. · 310 U.S. 150 (1940)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Gooding v. Wilson · 405 U.S. 518 (1972)
• Smith v. California · 361 U.S. 147 (1959)
• Murdock v. Pennsylvania · 319 U.S. 105 (1943)
• United States v. Raines · 362 U.S. 17 (1960)
• Spevack v. Klein · 385 U.S. 511 (1967)

Cited by

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

• Maracich v. Spears · 570 U.S. 48 (2013)
• Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson · 581 U.S. 224 (2017)

Official text

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

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Harry Andrew Blackmun’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).