Bigelow v. Virginia

Decided June 16, 1975. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 73-1309 · 421 U.S. 809 (1975) · Cited 767 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.

• Valentine v. Chrestensen · 316 U.S. 52 (1942)
• Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations · 413 U.S. 376 (1973)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Doe v. Bolton · 410 U.S. 179 (1973)
• Roe v. Wade · 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Huntington v. Attrill · 146 U.S. 657 (1892)
• Lehman v. City of Shaker Heights · 418 U.S. 298 (1974)
• Breard v. Alexandria · 341 U.S. 622 (1951)
• Head v. New Mexico Board of Examiners in Optometry · 374 U.S. 424 (1963)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. · 348 U.S. 483 (1955)
• Dombrowski v. Pfister · 380 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Gooding v. Wilson · 405 U.S. 518 (1972)
• Coates v. City of Cincinnati · 402 U.S. 611 (1971)
• Ginzburg v. United States · 383 U.S. 463 (1966)
• Semler v. Oregon State Board of Dental Examiners · 294 U.S. 608 (1935)
• Barsky v. Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York · 347 U.S. 442 (1954)
• North Dakota State Board of Pharmacy v. Snyder's Drug Stores, Inc. · 414 U.S. 156 (1973)
• Packer Corp. v. Utah · 285 U.S. 105 (1932)
• Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
• Grayned v. City of Rockford · 408 U.S. 104 (1972)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire · 315 U.S. 568 (1942)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts · 388 U.S. 130 (1967)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)

Cited by

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

• Massachusetts v. Oakes · 491 U.S. 576 (1989)
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• United States v. Edge Broadcasting Co. · 509 U.S. 418 (1993)
• Linmark Associates, Inc. v. Township of Willingboro · 431 U.S. 85 (1977)
• Bates v. State Bar of Arizona · 433 U.S. 350 (1977)
• Posadas De Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Co. of Puerto Rico · 478 U.S. 328 (1986)
• 44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island · 517 U.S. 484 (1996)
• Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego · 453 U.S. 490 (1981)
• Carey v. Population Services International · 431 U.S. 678 (1977)
• New York v. Ferber · 458 U.S. 747 (1982)
• Pullman-Standard v. Swint · 456 U.S. 273 (1982)
• First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Bellotti · 435 U.S. 765 (1978)
• Board of Trustees of State Univ. of NY v. Fox · 492 U.S. 469 (1989)
• Bolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp. · 463 U.S. 60 (1983)
• Regan v. Time, Inc. · 468 U.S. 641 (1984)
• Friedman v. Rogers · 440 U.S. 1 (1979)
• Warth v. Seldin · 422 U.S. 490 (1975)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc. · 435 U.S. 589 (1978)
• BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore · 517 U.S. 559 (1996)
• Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission · 447 U.S. 557 (1980)
• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey · 505 U.S. 833 (1992)
• State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Campbell · 538 U.S. 408 (2003)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Assn. · 436 U.S. 447 (1978)
• Riley v. National Federation of Blind of North Carolina, Inc. · 487 U.S. 781 (1988)
• Village of Schaumburg v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 444 U.S. 620 (1980)
• Supreme Court of Virginia v. Consumers Union of the United States, Inc. · 446 U.S. 719 (1980)
• Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. · 472 U.S. 749 (1985)
• City of Cincinnati v. Discovery Network, Inc. · 507 U.S. 410 (1993)

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).