Blount, Postmaster General, et al. v. Rizzi, Dba the Mail Box

Decided January 14, 1971. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 55 · 400 U.S. 410 (1971) · Cited 273 times

Holding

The administrative censorship scheme created by 39 U.S.C.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“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.

• Freedman v. Maryland · 380 U.S. 51 (1965)
• Donaldson v. Read Magazine, Inc. · 333 U.S. 178 (1948)
• Stanley v. Georgia · 394 U.S. 557 (1969)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan · 372 U.S. 58 (1963)
• Marcus v. Search Warrant of Property · 367 U.S. 717 (1961)
• Kingsley Books, Inc. v. Brown · 354 U.S. 436 (1957)
• Lamont v. Postmaster General · 381 U.S. 301 (1965)
• Manual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day · 370 U.S. 478 (1962)
• United States Ex Rel. Milwaukee Social Democratic Publishing Co. v. Burleson · 255 U.S. 407 (1921)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Thirty-Seven (37) Photographs · 402 U.S. 363 (1971)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
• Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad · 420 U.S. 546 (1975)
• Bolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp. · 463 U.S. 60 (1983)
• United States Postal Service v. Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations · 453 U.S. 114 (1981)
• Brown v. Glines · 444 U.S. 348 (1980)
• Heller v. New York · 413 U.S. 483 (1973)
• Hamling v. United States · 418 U.S. 87 (1974)
• Procunier v. Martinez · 416 U.S. 396 (1974)
• FW/PBS, Inc. v. City of Dallas · 493 U.S. 215 (1990)
• California v. LaRue · 409 U.S. 109 (1972)
• Greer v. Spock · 424 U.S. 828 (1976)
• Florida Bar v. Went for It, Inc. · 515 U.S. 618 (1995)
• Board of Ed., Island Trees Union Free School Dist. No. 26 v. Pico · 457 U.S. 853 (1982)
• Chicago Teachers Union, Local No. 1 v. Hudson · 475 U.S. 292 (1986)
• United States v. Reidel · 402 U.S. 351 (1971)
• Board of School Comm'rs of Indianapolis v. Jacobs · 420 U.S. 128 (1975)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1971). 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).