Dombrowski et al. v. Pfister, Chairman, Joint Legislative Committee on Unamerican Activities of the Louisiana Legislature, et al.

Decided April 26, 1965. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 52 · 380 U.S. 479 (1965) · Cited 2,255 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 5–2.

“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.

• Baggett v. Bullitt · 377 U.S. 360 (1964)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Douglas v. City of Jeannette · 319 U.S. 157 (1943)
• Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. McGrath · 341 U.S. 123 (1951)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Murdock v. Pennsylvania · 319 U.S. 105 (1943)
• United States v. Raines · 362 U.S. 17 (1960)
• Scales v. United States · 367 U.S. 203 (1961)
• Stefanelli v. Minard · 342 U.S. 117 (1951)
• Poulos v. New Hampshire · 345 U.S. 395 (1953)
• Cleary v. Bolger · 371 U.S. 392 (1963)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Garrison v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 64 (1964)
• Lanzetta v. New Jersey · 306 U.S. 451 (1939)
• Yates v. United States · 354 U.S. 298 (1957)
• Smith v. California · 361 U.S. 147 (1959)
• Winters v. New York · 333 U.S. 507 (1948)
• Dennis v. United States · 341 U.S. 494 (1951)
• Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan · 372 U.S. 58 (1963)
• United States v. Swift & Co. · 286 U.S. 106 (1932)
• Cox v. New Hampshire · 312 U.S. 569 (1941)
• Marcus v. Search Warrant of Property · 367 U.S. 717 (1961)
• Aptheker v. Secretary of State · 378 U.S. 500 (1964)
• System Federation No. 91 v. Wright · 364 U.S. 642 (1961)
• A Quantity of Copies of Books v. Kansas · 378 U.S. 205 (1964)
• Communist Party of United States v. Subversive Activities Control Bd. · 367 U.S. 1 (1961)
• Watson v. Buck · 313 U.S. 387 (1941)
• Fenner v. Boykin · 271 U.S. 240 (1926)
• Spielman Motor Sales Co. v. Dodge · 295 U.S. 89 (1935)

Cited by

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

• Cameron v. Johnson · 390 U.S. 611 (1968)
• Younger v. Harris · 401 U.S. 37 (1971)
• Perez v. Ledesma · 401 U.S. 82 (1971)
• Zwickler v. Koota · 389 U.S. 241 (1967)
• City of Houston v. Hill · 482 U.S. 451 (1987)
• Steffel v. Thompson · 415 U.S. 452 (1974)
• Allee v. Medrano · 416 U.S. 802 (1974)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• Members of the City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent · 466 U.S. 789 (1984)
• Huffman v. Pursue, Ltd. · 420 U.S. 592 (1975)
• Roe v. Wade · 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
• Keyishian v. Board of Regents of Univ. of State of NY · 385 U.S. 589 (1967)
• Reno v. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee · 525 U.S. 471 (1999)
• Gooding v. Wilson · 405 U.S. 518 (1972)
• Trump v. Vance · 591 U.S. 786 (2020)
• Grayned v. City of Rockford · 408 U.S. 104 (1972)
• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• New York v. Ferber · 458 U.S. 747 (1982)
• Parker v. Levy · 417 U.S. 733 (1974)
• Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego · 453 U.S. 490 (1981)
• McGautha v. California · 402 U.S. 183 (1971)
• City of Greenwood v. Peacock · 384 U.S. 808 (1966)
• Osborne v. Ohio · 495 U.S. 103 (1990)
• Bigelow v. Virginia · 421 U.S. 809 (1975)
• United States v. Thirty-Seven (37) Photographs · 402 U.S. 363 (1971)
• Virginia v. Hicks · 539 U.S. 113 (2003)
• Ginzburg v. United States · 383 U.S. 463 (1966)
• Brown v. Louisiana · 383 U.S. 131 (1966)
• United States v. Sineneng-Smith · 590 U.S. 371 (2020)
• Law Students Civil Rights Research Council, Inc. v. Wadmond · 401 U.S. 154 (1971)

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).