Carey, State'S Attorney of Cook County v. Brown et al.

Decided June 20, 1980. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 79-703 · 447 U.S. 455 (1980) · Cited 986 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 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.

• Police Department of Chicago v. Mosley · 408 U.S. 92 (1972)
• Grayned v. City of Rockford · 408 U.S. 104 (1972)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 559 (1965)
• Hudgens v. National Labor Relations Board · 424 U.S. 507 (1976)
• Rowan v. United States Post Office Department · 397 U.S. 728 (1970)
• Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville · 422 U.S. 205 (1975)
• Kovacs v. Cooper · 336 U.S. 77 (1949)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation · 438 U.S. 726 (1978)
• Gregory v. City of Chicago · 394 U.S. 111 (1969)
• Senn v. Tile Layers Protective Union · 301 U.S. 468 (1937)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 536 (1965)
• Village of Schaumburg v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 444 U.S. 620 (1980)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Payton v. New York · 445 U.S. 573 (1980)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• Pell v. Procunier · 417 U.S. 817 (1974)
• Haguer v. Committee for Industrial Organization · 307 U.S. 496 (1939)
• Craig v. Boren · 429 U.S. 190 (1976)
• Dunn v. Blumstein · 405 U.S. 330 (1972)
• Stanley v. Georgia · 394 U.S. 557 (1969)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Williams v. Rhodes · 393 U.S. 23 (1968)
• First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Bellotti · 435 U.S. 765 (1978)
• Stromberg v. California · 283 U.S. 359 (1931)
• Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham · 394 U.S. 147 (1969)

Cited by

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

• Frisby v. Schultz · 487 U.S. 474 (1988)
• Hill v. Colorado · 530 U.S. 703 (2000)
• Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n · 460 U.S. 37 (1983)
• Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of the New York State Crime Victims Board · 502 U.S. 105 (1991)
• Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. · 473 U.S. 788 (1985)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego · 453 U.S. 490 (1981)
• Boos v. Barry · 485 U.S. 312 (1988)
• Arkansas Writers' Project, Inc. v. Ragland · 481 U.S. 221 (1987)
• Members of the City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent · 466 U.S. 789 (1984)
• Reed v. Town of Gilbert · 576 U.S. 155 (2015)
• Federal Communications Commission v. League of Women Voters of California · 468 U.S. 364 (1984)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc. · 475 U.S. 41 (1986)
• Texas v. Johnson · 491 U.S. 397 (1989)
• Widmar v. Vincent · 454 U.S. 263 (1981)
• United States v. Grace · 461 U.S. 171 (1983)
• Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. · 472 U.S. 749 (1985)
• City of Cincinnati v. Discovery Network, Inc. · 507 U.S. 410 (1993)
• Madsen v. Women's Health Center, Inc. · 512 U.S. 753 (1994)
• Burson v. Freeman · 504 U.S. 191 (1992)
• Pleasant Grove City v. Summum · 555 U.S. 460 (2009)
• United States v. Kokinda · 497 U.S. 720 (1990)
• City of Ladue v. Gilleo · 512 U.S. 43 (1994)
• Regan v. Time, Inc. · 468 U.S. 641 (1984)
• Minnesota State Board for Community Colleges v. Knight · 465 U.S. 271 (1984)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising of Austin, LLC · 596 U.S. 61 (2022)
• Connick Ex Rel. Parish of Orleans v. Myers · 461 U.S. 138 (1983)
• Ward v. Rock Against Racism · 491 U.S. 781 (1989)

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).