California Democratic Party, et al. v. Bill Jones, Secretary of State of California, et al.

Decided June 26, 2000. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 99-401 · 530 U.S. 567 (2000) · Cited 350 times

Holding

California’s blanket primary violates a political party’s First Amendment right of association.

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 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.

• Tashjian v. Republican Party of Connecticut · 479 U.S. 208 (1986)
• Democratic Party of United States v. Wisconsin Ex Rel. La Follette · 450 U.S. 107 (1981)
• Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party · 520 U.S. 351 (1997)
• Terry v. Adams · 345 U.S. 461 (1953)
• Smith v. Allwright · 321 U.S. 649 (1944)
• Eu v. San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee · 489 U.S. 214 (1989)
• Kusper v. Pontikes · 414 U.S. 51 (1973)
• Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. Federal Election Commission · 518 U.S. 604 (1996)
• Rosario v. Rockefeller · 410 U.S. 752 (1973)
• Cousins v. Wigoda · 419 U.S. 477 (1975)
• Burdick v. Takushi · 504 U.S. 428 (1992)
• Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston, Inc. · 515 U.S. 557 (1995)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. · 466 U.S. 485 (1984)
• United States v. Classic · 313 U.S. 299 (1941)
• Roberts v. United States Jaycees · 468 U.S. 609 (1984)
• Bullock v. Carter · 405 U.S. 134 (1972)
• Jenness v. Fortson · 403 U.S. 431 (1971)
• Spence v. Washington · 418 U.S. 405 (1974)
• American Party of Texas v. White · 415 U.S. 767 (1974)
• Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC · 528 U.S. 377 (2000)
• U. S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton · 514 U.S. 779 (1995)
• Morse v. Republican Party of Virginia · 517 U.S. 186 (1996)
• Ray v. Blair · 343 U.S. 214 (1952)

Cited by

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

• Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party · 552 U.S. 442 (2008)
• Clingman v. Beaver · 544 U.S. 581 (2005)
• New York State Bd. of Elections v. López Torres · 552 U.S. 196 (2008)
• McConnell v. Federal Election Commission · 540 U.S. 93 (2003)
• Vieth v. Jubelirer · 541 U.S. 267 (2004)
• Gill v. Whitford · 585 U.S. 48 (2018)
• McCutcheon v. Federal Election Comm'n · 572 U.S. 185 (2014)
• Rucho v. Common Cause · 588 U.S. 684 (2019)
• Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Comm'n · 576 U.S. 787 (2015)
• Crawford v. Marion County Election Board · 553 U.S. 181 (2008)
• Randall v. Sorrell · 548 U.S. 230 (2006)
• Federal Election Commission v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee · 533 U.S. 431 (2001)
• League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry · 548 U.S. 399 (2006)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2000). 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).