Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

Decided January 21, 2010. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 08-205 · 558 U.S. 310 (2010) · Cited 1,732 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 5–4.

“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.

• Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce · 494 U.S. 652 (1990)
• McConnell v. Federal Election Commission · 540 U.S. 93 (2003)
• First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Bellotti · 435 U.S. 765 (1978)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Federal Election Commission v. Massachusetts Citizens for Life, Inc. · 479 U.S. 238 (1986)
• Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. · 551 U.S. 449 (2007)
• Federal Election Commission v. National Right to Work Committee · 459 U.S. 197 (1982)
• United States v. International Union United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers · 352 U.S. 567 (1957)
• Federal Election Commission v. Beaumont · 539 U.S. 146 (2003)
• Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC · 528 U.S. 377 (2000)
• Federal Election Commission v. National Conservative Political Action Committee · 470 U.S. 480 (1985)
• Randall v. Sorrell · 548 U.S. 230 (2006)
• Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party · 552 U.S. 442 (2008)
• Pipefitters Local Union No. 562 v. United States · 407 U.S. 385 (1972)
• Freedman v. Maryland · 380 U.S. 51 (1965)
• United States Civil Service Commission v. National Ass'n of Letter Carriers · 413 U.S. 548 (1973)
• McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission · 514 U.S. 334 (1995)
• Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation · 513 U.S. 374 (1995)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Near v. Minnesota Ex Rel. Olson · 283 U.S. 697 (1931)
• Helvering v. Hallock · 309 U.S. 106 (1940)
• Burson v. Freeman · 504 U.S. 191 (1992)
• Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser · 478 U.S. 675 (1986)
• Vasquez v. Hillery · 474 U.S. 254 (1986)
• Grosjean v. American Press Co. · 297 U.S. 233 (1936)
• Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of the New York State Crime Victims Board · 502 U.S. 105 (1991)
• Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes · 523 U.S. 666 (1998)
• California Medical Ass'n v. Federal Election Commission · 453 U.S. 182 (1981)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• Davis v. Federal Election Commission · 554 U.S. 724 (2008)

Cited by

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

• McCutcheon v. Federal Election Comm'n · 572 U.S. 185 (2014)
• Reed v. Town of Gilbert · 576 U.S. 155 (2015)
• Janus v. State, County, and Municipal Employees · 585 U.S. 878 (2018)
• Bucklew v. Precythe · 587 U.S. 119 (2019)
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization · 597 U.S. 215 (2022)
• Ramos v. Louisiana · 590 U.S. 83 (2020)
• Salazar v. Buono · 559 U.S. 700 (2010)
• Thompson v. Hebdon · 589 U.S. 1 (2019)
• Gamble v. United States · 587 U.S. 678 (2019)
• Stanley v. City of Sanford · 606 U.S. 46 (2025)
• Federal Election Comm'n v. Ted Cruz · 596 U.S. 289 (2022)
• McDonald v. City of Chicago · 561 U.S. 742 (2010)
• Knox v. Service Employees International Union, Local 1000 · 567 U.S. 298 (2012)
• Elgin v. Department of the Treasury · 567 U.S. 1 (2012)
• Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri · 564 U.S. 379 (2011)
• National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra · 585 U.S. 755 (2018)
• Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta · 594 U.S. 595 (2021)
• Fulton v. Philadelphia · 593 U.S. 522 (2021)
• Moody v. NetChoice, LLC · 603 U.S. 707 (2024)
• Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC · 584 U.S. 241 (2018)
• TikTok Inc. v. Garland · 604 U.S. 56 (2025)

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).