Eric Eldred, et al. v. John D. Ashcroft, Attorney General

Decided January 15, 2003. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 01-618 · 537 U.S. 186 (2003) · Cited 226 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.

• Graham v. John Deere Co. of Kansas City · 383 U.S. 1 (1966)
• Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. · 464 U.S. 417 (1984)
• McCLURG v. KINGSLAND · 42 U.S. 202 (1843)
• Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. v. Nation Enterprises · 471 U.S. 539 (1985)
• Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Stiffel Co. · 376 U.S. 225 (1964)
• Bonito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc. · 489 U.S. 141 (1989)
• Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co. · 499 U.S. 340 (1991)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Chadha · 462 U.S. 919 (1983)
• Stewart v. Abend · 495 U.S. 207 (1990)
• Mazer v. Stein · 347 U.S. 201 (1954)
• Gibbons v. Ogden · 22 U.S. 1 (1824)
• Wheaton and Donaldson v. Peters and Grigg · 33 U.S. 591 (1834)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. · 334 U.S. 131 (1948)
• Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. · 510 U.S. 569 (1994)
• Zuber v. Allen · 396 U.S. 168 (1969)
• San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. United States Olympic Committee · 483 U.S. 522 (1987)
• Heckler v. Mathews · 465 U.S. 728 (1984)
• Panhandle Oil Co. v. Mississippi Ex Rel. Knox · 277 U.S. 218 (1928)
• Burrow-Giles Lithographic Co. v. Sarony · 111 U.S. 53 (1884)
• J. E. M. Ag Supply, Inc. v. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. · 534 U.S. 124 (2001)
• Fox Film Corp. v. Doyal · 286 U.S. 123 (1932)
• City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc. · 473 U.S. 432 (1985)
• Plyler v. Doe · 457 U.S. 202 (1982)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Beach Communications, Inc. · 508 U.S. 307 (1993)
• Board of Trustees of Univ. of Ala. v. Garrett · 531 U.S. 356 (2001)
• City of Boerne v. Flores · 521 U.S. 507 (1997)
• United States v. Morrison · 529 U.S. 598 (2000)
• Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid · 490 U.S. 730 (1989)

Cited by

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

• Georgia v. Public Resource.Org, Inc. · 590 U.S. 255 (2020)
• Star Athletica, L. L. C. v. Varsity Brands, Inc. · 580 U.S. 405 (2017)
• Fourth Estate Pub. Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC · 586 U.S. 296 (2019)
• Matal v. Tam · 582 U.S. 218 (2017)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd. · 545 U.S. 913 (2005)
• Harbison v. Bell · 556 U.S. 180 (2009)
• Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. · 539 U.S. 23 (2003)

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).