Brooke Group Ltd. v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation

Decided June 21, 1993. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 92-466 · 509 U.S. 209 (1993) · Cited 751 times

Holding

Brown & Williamson is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

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 6–3.

“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.

• Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corporation · 475 U.S. 574 (1986)
• Cargill, Inc. v. Monfort of Colorado, Inc. · 479 U.S. 104 (1986)
• Utah Pie Co. v. Continental Baking Co. · 386 U.S. 685 (1967)
• Atlantic Richfield Co. v. USA Petroleum Co. · 495 U.S. 328 (1990)
• Spectrum Sports, Inc. v. McQuillan · 506 U.S. 447 (1993)
• Monsanto Co. v. Spray-Rite Service Corp. · 465 U.S. 752 (1984)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Morton Salt Co. · 334 U.S. 37 (1948)
• J. Truett Payne Co. v. Chrysler Motors Corp. · 451 U.S. 557 (1981)
• Corn Products Refining Co. v. Federal Trade Commission · 324 U.S. 726 (1945)
• Falls City Industries, Inc. v. Vanco Beverage, Inc. · 460 U.S. 428 (1983)
• United States v. Pabst Brewing Co. · 384 U.S. 546 (1966)
• Brown Shoe Co. v. United States · 370 U.S. 294 (1962)
• Eastman Kodak Co. v. Image Technical Services, Inc. · 504 U.S. 451 (1992)
• Reiter v. Sonotone Corp. · 442 U.S. 330 (1979)
• American Tobacco Co. v. United States · 328 U.S. 781 (1946)
• United States v. Philadelphia National Bank · 374 U.S. 321 (1963)
• United States v. National Dairy Products Corp. · 372 U.S. 29 (1963)
• National Collegiate Athletic Ass'n v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma · 468 U.S. 85 (1984)
• Nash v. United States · 229 U.S. 373 (1913)
• Broadcast Music, Inc. v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. · 441 U.S. 1 (1979)
• Aspen Skiing Co. v. Aspen Highlands Skiing Corp. · 472 U.S. 585 (1985)
• Sullivan v. Stroop · 496 U.S. 478 (1990)
• United States v. American Tobacco Co. · 221 U.S. 106 (1911)
• Standard Oil Co. v. Federal Trade Commission · 340 U.S. 231 (1951)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc. · 363 U.S. 536 (1960)
• Automatic Canteen Co. of America v. Federal Trade Commission · 346 U.S. 61 (1953)
• Hunt v. Crumboch · 325 U.S. 821 (1945)
• Texaco Inc. v. Hasbrouck · 496 U.S. 543 (1990)
• Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. v. Federal Trade Commission · 440 U.S. 69 (1979)

Cited by

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

• Pacific Bell Telephone Co. v. Linkline Communications, Inc. · 555 U.S. 438 (2009)
• Ohio v. American Express Co. · 585 U.S. 529 (2018)
• Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly · 550 U.S. 544 (2007)
• Strickler v. Greene · 527 U.S. 263 (1999)
• Gustafson v. Alloyd Co. · 513 U.S. 561 (1995)
• Verizon Communications Inc. v. Law Offices of Curtis v. Trinko, LLP · 540 U.S. 398 (2004)
• Weisgram v. Marley Co. · 528 U.S. 440 (2000)
• Nynex Corp. v. Discon, Inc. · 525 U.S. 128 (1998)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1993). 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).