Communist Party of the United States v. Subversive Activities Control Board

Decided June 5, 1961. Felix Frankfurter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 12 · 367 U.S. 1 (1961) · Cited 481 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.

• United States v. Sullivan · 274 U.S. 259 (1927)
• Thomas v. Collins · 323 U.S. 516 (1945)
• Bates v. City of Little Rock · 361 U.S. 516 (1960)
• Yates v. United States · 354 U.S. 298 (1957)
• Dennis v. United States · 341 U.S. 494 (1951)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• American Communications Assn. v. Douds · 339 U.S. 382 (1950)
• United States v. White · 322 U.S. 694 (1944)
• Blau v. United States · 340 U.S. 159 (1950)
• Communist Party of United States v. Subversive Activities Control Bd. · 351 U.S. 115 (1956)
• United States v. Harriss · 347 U.S. 612 (1954)
• Quinn v. United States · 349 U.S. 155 (1955)
• New York Ex Rel. Bryant v. Zimmerman · 278 U.S. 63 (1928)
• Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. McGrath · 341 U.S. 123 (1951)
• Barenblatt v. United States · 360 U.S. 109 (1959)
• United States v. Kahriger · 345 U.S. 22 (1953)
• Electric Bond & Share Co. v. Securities & Exchange Comm'n · 303 U.S. 419 (1938)
• Burroughs and Cannon v. United States · 290 U.S. 534 (1934)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. Chenery Corp. · 318 U.S. 80 (1943)
• United Public Workers of America v. Mitchell · 330 U.S. 75 (1947)
• Truax v. Raich · 239 U.S. 33 (1915)
• Rogers v. United States · 340 U.S. 367 (1951)
• Konigsberg v. State Bar of Cal. · 366 U.S. 36 (1961)
• Buchanan v. Warley · 245 U.S. 60 (1916)
• Viereck v. United States · 318 U.S. 236 (1943)
• Curcio v. United States · 354 U.S. 118 (1957)
• Consolidated Edison Co. v. National Labor Relations Board · 305 U.S. 197 (1938)
• Boyd v. United States · 116 U.S. 616 (1886)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Brown · 381 U.S. 437 (1965)
• Verizon Communications Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 535 U.S. 467 (2002)
• California Bankers Assn. v. Shultz · 416 U.S. 21 (1974)
• United States v. Robel · 389 U.S. 258 (1967)
• Albertson v. Subversive Activities Control Board · 382 U.S. 70 (1965)
• Aptheker v. Secretary of State · 378 U.S. 500 (1964)
• Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee · 372 U.S. 539 (1963)
• Selective Service System v. Minnesota Public Interest Research Group · 468 U.S. 841 (1984)
• Oregon v. Mitchell · 400 U.S. 112 (1970)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Dombrowski v. Pfister · 380 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez · 372 U.S. 144 (1963)
• Branzburg v. Hayes · 408 U.S. 665 (1972)
• Leary v. United States · 395 U.S. 6 (1969)
• Regional Rail Reorganization Act Cases · 419 U.S. 102 (1974)
• McGautha v. California · 402 U.S. 183 (1971)
• Kleindienst v. Mandel · 408 U.S. 753 (1972)
• Healy v. James · 408 U.S. 169 (1972)
• Eastland v. United States Servicemen's Fund · 421 U.S. 491 (1975)
• Elfbrandt v. Russell · 384 U.S. 11 (1966)

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).