Cornelius, Acting Director, Office of Personnel Management v. NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., et al.

Decided July 2, 1985. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 84-312 · 473 U.S. 788 (1985) · Cited 1,935 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 4–3.

“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.

• Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n · 460 U.S. 37 (1983)
• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District · 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
• Greer v. Spock · 424 U.S. 828 (1976)
• Widmar v. Vincent · 454 U.S. 263 (1981)
• Village of Schaumburg v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 444 U.S. 620 (1980)
• United States Postal Service v. Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations · 453 U.S. 114 (1981)
• Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad · 420 U.S. 546 (1975)
• Lehman v. City of Shaker Heights · 418 U.S. 298 (1974)
• Brown v. Louisiana · 383 U.S. 131 (1966)
• City of Madison Joint School District No. 8 v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission · 429 U.S. 167 (1976)
• Haguer v. Committee for Industrial Organization · 307 U.S. 496 (1939)
• Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Labor Union, Inc. · 433 U.S. 119 (1977)
• Carey v. Brown · 447 U.S. 455 (1980)
• Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. · 452 U.S. 640 (1981)
• United States v. Grace · 461 U.S. 171 (1983)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Terminiello v. Chicago · 337 U.S. 1 (1949)
• Cox v. New Hampshire · 312 U.S. 569 (1941)
• Adderley v. Florida · 385 U.S. 39 (1966)
• Police Department of Chicago v. Mosley · 408 U.S. 92 (1972)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Pickering v. Board of Ed. of Township High School Dist. 205, Will Cty. · 391 U.S. 563 (1968)
• Connick Ex Rel. Parish of Orleans v. Myers · 461 U.S. 138 (1983)
• Grayned v. City of Rockford · 408 U.S. 104 (1972)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• Procunier v. Martinez · 416 U.S. 396 (1974)
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• Members of the City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent · 466 U.S. 789 (1984)
• Arnett v. Kennedy · 416 U.S. 134 (1974)
• United States v. Hasting · 461 U.S. 499 (1983)

Cited by

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

• Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes · 523 U.S. 666 (1998)
• United States v. Kokinda · 497 U.S. 720 (1990)
• Walker v. Texas Div., Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc. · 576 U.S. 200 (2015)
• International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. v. Lee · 505 U.S. 672 (1992)
• Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck · 587 U.S. 802 (2019)
• Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky · 585 U.S. 1 (2018)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• Christian Legal Soc. Chapter of Univ. of Cal., Hastings College of Law v. Martinez · 561 U.S. 661 (2010)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)
• Pleasant Grove City v. Summum · 555 U.S. 460 (2009)
• Good News Club v. Milford Central School · 533 U.S. 98 (2001)
• Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District · 508 U.S. 384 (1993)
• United States v. American Library Assn., Inc. · 539 U.S. 194 (2003)
• Davenport v. Washington Education Ass'n · 551 U.S. 177 (2007)
• Iancu v. Brunetti · 588 U.S. 388 (2019)
• Vidal v. Elster · 602 U.S. 286 (2024)
• Frisby v. Schultz · 487 U.S. 474 (1988)
• Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier · 484 U.S. 260 (1988)
• Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Ass'n · 555 U.S. 353 (2009)
• Shurtleff v. Boston · 596 U.S. 243 (2022)
• Matal v. Tam · 582 U.S. 218 (2017)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Boos v. Barry · 485 U.S. 312 (1988)
• Snyder v. Phelps · 562 U.S. 443 (2011)
• Burson v. Freeman · 504 U.S. 191 (1992)
• Capitol Square Review & Advisory Board v. Pinette · 515 U.S. 753 (1995)
• Board of Ed. of Westside Community Schools (Dist. 66) v. Mergens · 496 U.S. 226 (1990)
• National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley · 524 U.S. 569 (1998)
• Norfolk & Western Railway Co. v. American Train Dispatchers' Ass'n · 499 U.S. 117 (1991)
• Mitchell v. Helms · 530 U.S. 793 (2000)

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).