California Medical Association et al. v. Federal Election Commission et al.

Decided June 26, 1981. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 79-1952 · 453 U.S. 182 (1981) · Cited 244 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 5–0.

“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.

• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. · 429 U.S. 252 (1977)
• Crowell v. Benson · 285 U.S. 22 (1932)
• Nixon v. Administrator of General Services · 433 U.S. 425 (1977)
• Thorpe v. Housing Authority of Durham · 393 U.S. 268 (1969)
• California Water Service Co. v. City of Redding · 304 U.S. 252 (1938)

Cited by

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

• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. Federal Election Commission · 518 U.S. 604 (1996)
• McCutcheon v. Federal Election Comm'n · 572 U.S. 185 (2014)
• McConnell v. Federal Election Commission · 540 U.S. 93 (2003)
• Citizens Against Rent Control/Coalition for Fair Housing v. City of Berkeley · 454 U.S. 290 (1981)
• Federal Election Commission v. National Conservative Political Action Committee · 470 U.S. 480 (1985)
• Randall v. Sorrell · 548 U.S. 230 (2006)
• Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC · 528 U.S. 377 (2000)
• Federal Election Commission v. Massachusetts Citizens for Life, Inc. · 479 U.S. 238 (1986)
• Federal Election Commission v. NRA Political Victory Fund · 513 U.S. 88 (1994)
• Minneapolis Star & Tribune Co. v. Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue · 460 U.S. 575 (1983)
• Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce · 494 U.S. 652 (1990)
• Federal Election Commission v. National Right to Work Committee · 459 U.S. 197 (1982)
• Federal Election Commission v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee · 533 U.S. 431 (2001)
• Bread Political Action Committee v. Federal Election Commission · 455 U.S. 577 (1982)

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).