Cohen v. California

Decided June 7, 1971. John Marshall Harlan delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 299 · 403 U.S. 15 (1971) · Cited 1,777 times

Holding

Absent a more particularized and compelling reason for its actions, the State may not, consistently with the First and Fourteenth Amendments, make the simple public display of this single four-letter expletive a criminal offense.

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 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.

• Organization for a Better Austin v. Keefe · 402 U.S. 415 (1971)
• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire · 315 U.S. 568 (1942)
• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 536 (1965)
• Edwards v. South Carolina · 372 U.S. 229 (1963)
• Rowan v. United States Post Office Department · 397 U.S. 728 (1970)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District · 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
• Stromberg v. California · 283 U.S. 359 (1931)
• Yates v. United States · 354 U.S. 298 (1957)
• Winters v. New York · 333 U.S. 507 (1948)
• Terminiello v. Chicago · 337 U.S. 1 (1949)
• Whitney v. California · 274 U.S. 357 (1927)
• Adderley v. Florida · 385 U.S. 39 (1966)
• Giboney v. Empire Storage & Ice Co. · 336 U.S. 490 (1949)
• Street v. New York · 394 U.S. 576 (1969)
• Baumgartner v. United States · 322 U.S. 665 (1944)
• Dahnke-Walker Milling Co. v. Bondurant · 257 U.S. 282 (1921)
• Feiner v. New York · 340 U.S. 315 (1951)
• Ashton v. Kentucky · 384 U.S. 195 (1966)

Cited by

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

• Iancu v. Brunetti · 588 U.S. 388 (2019)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation · 438 U.S. 726 (1978)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• McCutcheon v. Federal Election Comm'n · 572 U.S. 185 (2014)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• Hill v. Colorado · 530 U.S. 703 (2000)
• Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville · 422 U.S. 205 (1975)
• Mahanoy Area School Dist. v. B. L. · 594 U.S. 180 (2021)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Gooding v. Wilson · 405 U.S. 518 (1972)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
• Bolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp. · 463 U.S. 60 (1983)
• Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. · 551 U.S. 449 (2007)
• Elonis v. United States · 575 U.S. 723 (2015)
• San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. United States Olympic Committee · 483 U.S. 522 (1987)
• Morse v. Frederick · 551 U.S. 393 (2007)
• Hess v. Indiana · 414 U.S. 105 (1973)
• Papish v. Board of Curators of the University of Missouri · 410 U.S. 667 (1973)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• United States v. Stevens · 559 U.S. 460 (2010)
• Frisby v. Schultz · 487 U.S. 474 (1988)
• Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Assn. · 436 U.S. 447 (1978)
• Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser · 478 U.S. 675 (1986)
• City of Cincinnati v. Discovery Network, Inc. · 507 U.S. 410 (1993)
• Consolidated Edison Co. of New York v. Public Service Commission · 447 U.S. 530 (1980)
• United States v. Kokinda · 497 U.S. 720 (1990)
• Lewis v. City of New Orleans · 415 U.S. 130 (1974)
• Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC · 528 U.S. 377 (2000)
• Smith v. United States · 431 U.S. 291 (1977)
• Counterman v. Colorado · 600 U.S. 66 (2023)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1971). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).