Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc.

Decided June 26, 1985. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 83-18 · 472 U.S. 749 (1985) · Cited 866 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

“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.

• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Rosenbloom v. Metromedia, Inc. · 403 U.S. 29 (1971)
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• Connick Ex Rel. Parish of Orleans v. Myers · 461 U.S. 138 (1983)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission · 447 U.S. 557 (1980)
• Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Assn. · 436 U.S. 447 (1978)
• Zauderer v. Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the Supreme Court of Ohio · 471 U.S. 626 (1985)
• Branzburg v. Hayes · 408 U.S. 665 (1972)
• Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. · 466 U.S. 485 (1984)
• Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts · 388 U.S. 130 (1967)
• Garrison v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 64 (1964)
• First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Bellotti · 435 U.S. 765 (1978)
• Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp. · 464 U.S. 238 (1984)
• Abood v. Detroit Board of Education · 431 U.S. 209 (1977)
• Rosenblatt v. Baer · 383 U.S. 75 (1966)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Smith v. Wade · 461 U.S. 30 (1983)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego · 453 U.S. 490 (1981)
• Herbert v. Lando · 441 U.S. 153 (1979)
• Whitney v. California · 274 U.S. 357 (1927)
• Carey v. Brown · 447 U.S. 455 (1980)
• Bolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp. · 463 U.S. 60 (1983)
• Time, Inc. v. Hill · 385 U.S. 374 (1967)
• Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson · 343 U.S. 495 (1952)
• Consolidated Edison Co. of New York v. Public Service Commission · 447 U.S. 530 (1980)
• Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations · 413 U.S. 376 (1973)

Cited by

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

• Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. v. Hepps · 475 U.S. 767 (1986)
• Snyder v. Phelps · 562 U.S. 443 (2011)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce · 494 U.S. 652 (1990)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Rankin v. McPherson · 483 U.S. 378 (1987)
• Memphis Community School District v. Stachura · 477 U.S. 299 (1986)
• Waters v. Churchill · 511 U.S. 661 (1994)
• Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell · 485 U.S. 46 (1988)
• City of Cincinnati v. Discovery Network, Inc. · 507 U.S. 410 (1993)
• Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of the New York State Crime Victims Board · 502 U.S. 105 (1991)
• Florida Star v. B. J. F. · 491 U.S. 524 (1989)
• Cohen v. Cowles Media Co. · 501 U.S. 663 (1991)
• Counterman v. Colorado · 600 U.S. 66 (2023)

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).