Eastland et al. v. United States Servicemen'S Fund et al.

Decided May 27, 1975. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 73-1923 · 421 U.S. 491 (1975) · Cited 593 times

Holding

The activities of the Senate Subcommittee, the individual Senators, and the Chief Counsel fall within the 'legitimate legislative sphere,' and since it is determined that such is the case, those activities are protected by the absolute prohibition of the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution against being 'questioned in any other Place' and hence are immune from judicial interference.

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 8–1.

“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.

• Doe v. McMillan · 412 U.S. 306 (1973)
• Watkins v. United States · 354 U.S. 178 (1957)
• Tenney v. Brandhove · 341 U.S. 367 (1951)
• Gravel v. United States · 408 U.S. 606 (1972)
• United States v. Brewster · 408 U.S. 501 (1972)
• United States v. Johnson · 383 U.S. 169 (1966)
• Dombrowski v. Eastland · 387 U.S. 82 (1967)
• McGrain v. Daugherty · 273 U.S. 135 (1927)
• Powell v. McCormack · 395 U.S. 486 (1969)
• Barenblatt v. United States · 360 U.S. 109 (1959)
• Quinn v. United States · 349 U.S. 155 (1955)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Sinclair v. United States · 279 U.S. 263 (1929)
• United States v. Rumely · 345 U.S. 41 (1953)
• Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee · 372 U.S. 539 (1963)
• United States v. Nixon · 418 U.S. 683 (1974)
• Barr v. Matteo · 360 U.S. 564 (1959)
• Bates v. City of Little Rock · 361 U.S. 516 (1960)
• Perlman v. United States · 247 U.S. 7 (1918)
• Communist Party of United States v. Subversive Activities Control Bd. · 367 U.S. 1 (1961)
• Louisiana Ex Rel. Gremillion v. National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People · 366 U.S. 293 (1961)

Cited by

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

• Supreme Court of Virginia v. Consumers Union of the United States, Inc. · 446 U.S. 719 (1980)
• Nixon v. Administrator of General Services · 433 U.S. 425 (1977)
• Harlow v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 800 (1982)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Davis v. Passman · 442 U.S. 228 (1979)
• Hutchinson v. Proxmire · 443 U.S. 111 (1979)
• Buckley v. Fitzsimmons · 509 U.S. 259 (1993)
• United States v. Miller · 425 U.S. 435 (1976)
• Franklin v. Massachusetts · 505 U.S. 788 (1992)
• United States v. Gillock · 445 U.S. 360 (1980)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Warren Earl Burger’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1975). 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).