Eu, Secretary of State of California, et al. v. San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee et al.

Decided February 22, 1989. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-1269 · 489 U.S. 214 (1989) · Cited 706 times

Holding

The challenged California election laws are invalid, since they burden the First Amendment rights of political parties and their members without serving a compelling state interest.

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 8–0.

“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.

• Tashjian v. Republican Party of Connecticut · 479 U.S. 208 (1986)
• Storer v. Brown · 415 U.S. 724 (1974)
• Anderson v. Celebrezze · 460 U.S. 780 (1983)
• Illinois State Board of Elections v. Socialist Workers Party · 440 U.S. 173 (1979)
• American Party of Texas v. White · 415 U.S. 767 (1974)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Dunn v. Blumstein · 405 U.S. 330 (1972)
• Williams v. Rhodes · 393 U.S. 23 (1968)
• First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Bellotti · 435 U.S. 765 (1978)
• Bullock v. Carter · 405 U.S. 134 (1972)
• Smith v. Allwright · 321 U.S. 649 (1944)
• Jenness v. Fortson · 403 U.S. 431 (1971)
• Kusper v. Pontikes · 414 U.S. 51 (1973)
• Rosario v. Rockefeller · 410 U.S. 752 (1973)
• Democratic Party of United States v. Wisconsin Ex Rel. La Follette · 450 U.S. 107 (1981)
• Elrod v. Burns · 427 U.S. 347 (1976)
• Railroad Comm'n of Tex. v. Pullman Co. · 312 U.S. 496 (1941)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• United States v. Classic · 313 U.S. 299 (1941)
• Roberts v. United States Jaycees · 468 U.S. 609 (1984)
• Garrison v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 64 (1964)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Claiborne Hardware Co. · 458 U.S. 886 (1982)
• Kramer v. Union Free School District No. 15 · 395 U.S. 621 (1969)
• Carey v. Brown · 447 U.S. 455 (1980)
• Mills v. Alabama · 384 U.S. 214 (1966)
• Oregon v. Mitchell · 400 U.S. 112 (1970)
• Monitor Patriot Co. v. Roy · 401 U.S. 265 (1971)
• Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Utilities Commission · 475 U.S. 1 (1986)
• Citizens Against Rent Control/Coalition for Fair Housing v. City of Berkeley · 454 U.S. 290 (1981)

Cited by

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

• Renne v. Geary · 501 U.S. 312 (1991)
• Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party · 520 U.S. 351 (1997)
• Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party · 552 U.S. 442 (2008)
• California Democratic Party v. Jones · 530 U.S. 567 (2000)
• Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill · 587 U.S. 658 (2019)
• Morse v. Republican Party of Virginia · 517 U.S. 186 (1996)
• Clingman v. Beaver · 544 U.S. 581 (2005)
• McConnell v. Federal Election Commission · 540 U.S. 93 (2003)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Burson v. Freeman · 504 U.S. 191 (1992)
• Purcell v. Gonzalez · 549 U.S. 1 (2006)
• Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Ariz., Inc. · 570 U.S. 1 (2013)
• New York State Bd. of Elections v. López Torres · 552 U.S. 196 (2008)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Buckley v. American Constitutional Law Foundation, Inc. · 525 U.S. 182 (1999)
• Republican Party of Minnesota v. White · 536 U.S. 765 (2002)
• Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC · 528 U.S. 377 (2000)
• Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. Federal Election Commission · 518 U.S. 604 (1996)
• Public Citizen v. United States Department of Justice · 491 U.S. 440 (1989)
• McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission · 514 U.S. 334 (1995)
• Crawford v. Marion County Election Board · 553 U.S. 181 (2008)
• Vieth v. Jubelirer · 541 U.S. 267 (2004)
• Cohen v. Cowles Media Co. · 501 U.S. 663 (1991)
• Federal Election Commission v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee · 533 U.S. 431 (2001)
• Nevada Commission on Ethics v. Carrigan · 564 U.S. 117 (2011)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). 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).