Butler v. Michigan

Decided February 25, 1957. Felix Frankfurter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 16 · 352 U.S. 380 (1957) · Cited 344 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 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.

• Winters v. New York · 333 U.S. 507 (1948)

Cited by

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

• Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation · 438 U.S. 726 (1978)
• Sable Communications of California, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 492 U.S. 115 (1989)
• Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly · 533 U.S. 525 (2001)
• Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton · 606 U.S. 461 (2025)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union · 521 U.S. 844 (1997)
• Bolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp. · 463 U.S. 60 (1983)
• United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc. · 529 U.S. 803 (2000)
• Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union · 535 U.S. 564 (2002)
• Jacobellis v. Ohio · 378 U.S. 184 (1964)
• Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition · 535 U.S. 234 (2002)
• United States v. Thirty-Seven (37) Photographs · 402 U.S. 363 (1971)
• Ginzburg v. United States · 383 U.S. 463 (1966)
• United States v. American Library Assn., Inc. · 539 U.S. 194 (2003)
• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
• Ginsberg v. New York · 390 U.S. 629 (1968)
• Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan · 372 U.S. 58 (1963)
• Virginia v. American Booksellers Assn., Inc. · 484 U.S. 383 (1988)
• Rosenbloom v. Metromedia, Inc. · 403 U.S. 29 (1971)
• Board of Ed., Island Trees Union Free School Dist. No. 26 v. Pico · 457 U.S. 853 (1982)
• Redrup v. New York · 386 U.S. 767 (1967)
• Lamont v. Postmaster General · 381 U.S. 301 (1965)
• Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce · 494 U.S. 652 (1990)
• Manual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day · 370 U.S. 478 (1962)
• Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. City of Dallas · 390 U.S. 676 (1968)

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).