Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Governor of California, et al., Petitioners v. Entertainment Merchants Association, et al.

Decided June 27, 2011. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 08-1448 · 564 U.S. 786 (2011) · Cited 599 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 7–2.

“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.

• United States v. Stevens · 559 U.S. 460 (2010)
• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• Ginsberg v. New York · 390 U.S. 629 (1968)
• Winters v. New York · 333 U.S. 507 (1948)
• Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville · 422 U.S. 205 (1975)
• United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc. · 529 U.S. 803 (2000)
• Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union · 521 U.S. 844 (1997)
• McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission · 514 U.S. 334 (1995)
• Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project · 561 U.S. 1 (2010)
• Ginzburg v. United States · 383 U.S. 463 (1966)
• Grayned v. City of Rockford · 408 U.S. 104 (1972)
• Roper v. Simmons · 543 U.S. 551 (2005)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire · 315 U.S. 568 (1942)
• Prince v. Massachusetts · 321 U.S. 158 (1944)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson · 343 U.S. 495 (1952)
• Bellotti v. Baird · 443 U.S. 622 (1979)
• Morse v. Frederick · 551 U.S. 393 (2007)
• McDonald v. City of Chicago · 561 U.S. 742 (2010)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• United States v. Williams · 553 U.S. 285 (2008)
• Cutter v. Wilkinson · 544 U.S. 709 (2005)
• Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition · 535 U.S. 234 (2002)
• Burson v. Freeman · 504 U.S. 191 (1992)
• Sable Communications of California, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 492 U.S. 115 (1989)
• Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union · 535 U.S. 564 (2002)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• Hoffman Estates v. Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc. · 455 U.S. 489 (1982)
• Ward v. Rock Against Racism · 491 U.S. 781 (1989)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Alvarez · 567 U.S. 709 (2012)
• National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra · 585 U.S. 755 (2018)
• Iancu v. Brunetti · 588 U.S. 388 (2019)
• Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Comm'n · 584 U.S. 617 (2018)
• Moody v. NetChoice, LLC · 603 U.S. 707 (2024)
• Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton · 606 U.S. 461 (2025)
• City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising of Austin, LLC · 596 U.S. 61 (2022)
• Fulton v. Philadelphia · 593 U.S. 522 (2021)
• 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis · 600 U.S. 570 (2023)
• Mahanoy Area School Dist. v. B. L. · 594 U.S. 180 (2021)
• TikTok Inc. v. Garland · 604 U.S. 56 (2025)

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).