Bethel School District No. 403 et al. v. Fraser, a Minor, et al.

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

Docket 84-1667 · 478 U.S. 675 (1986) · Cited 857 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.

• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District · 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation · 438 U.S. 726 (1978)
• Board of Ed., Island Trees Union Free School Dist. No. 26 v. Pico · 457 U.S. 853 (1982)
• Ginsberg v. New York · 390 U.S. 629 (1968)
• Goss v. Lopez · 419 U.S. 565 (1975)
• New Jersey v. T. L. O. · 469 U.S. 325 (1985)
• Bender v. Williamsport Area School District · 475 U.S. 534 (1986)
• Cohen v. California · 403 U.S. 15 (1971)
• Ambach v. Norwick · 441 U.S. 68 (1979)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. · 272 U.S. 365 (1926)
• Arnett v. Kennedy · 416 U.S. 134 (1974)
• Widmar v. Vincent · 454 U.S. 263 (1981)
• Schenck v. United States · 249 U.S. 47 (1919)
• Consolidated Edison Co. of New York v. Public Service Commission · 447 U.S. 530 (1980)

Cited by

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

• Morse v. Frederick · 551 U.S. 393 (2007)
• Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier · 484 U.S. 260 (1988)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Mahanoy Area School Dist. v. B. L. · 594 U.S. 180 (2021)
• Iancu v. Brunetti · 588 U.S. 388 (2019)
• Edwards v. Aguillard · 482 U.S. 578 (1987)
• Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton · 515 U.S. 646 (1995)
• Board of Ed. of Westside Community Schools (Dist. 66) v. Mergens · 496 U.S. 226 (1990)
• Lee v. Weisman · 505 U.S. 577 (1992)
• Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe · 530 U.S. 290 (2000)
• Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls · 536 U.S. 822 (2002)
• National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley · 524 U.S. 569 (1998)
• Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth · 529 U.S. 217 (2000)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)

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).