Federal Communications Commission, et al. v. Fox Television Stations, Inc., et al.

Decided April 28, 2009. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 07-582 · 556 U.S. 502 (2009) · Cited 1,340 times

Holding

The judgment is reversed, and the case is remanded.

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 5–4.

“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.

• Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation · 438 U.S. 726 (1978)
• Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Assn. of United States, Inc. v. State Farm Mut. Automobile Ins. Co. · 463 U.S. 29 (1983)
• Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe · 401 U.S. 402 (1971)
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)
• Bowsher v. Synar · 478 U.S. 714 (1986)
• United States v. Nixon · 418 U.S. 683 (1974)
• Mistretta v. United States · 488 U.S. 361 (1989)
• National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. v. Brand X Internet Services · 545 U.S. 967 (2005)
• Whitman v. American Trucking Assns., Inc. · 531 U.S. 457 (2001)
• Humphrey's v. United States · 295 U.S. 602 (1935)
• Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. Wichita Board of Trade · 412 U.S. 800 (1973)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• Almendarez-Torres v. United States · 523 U.S. 224 (1998)
• Burlington Truck Lines, Inc. v. United States · 371 U.S. 156 (1962)
• Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 435 U.S. 519 (1978)
• Freytag v. Commissioner · 501 U.S. 868 (1991)
• Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union · 521 U.S. 844 (1997)
• Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. v. Florida Gulf Coast Building & Construction Trades Council · 485 U.S. 568 (1988)
• Morrison v. Olson · 487 U.S. 654 (1988)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Catholic Bishop · 440 U.S. 490 (1979)
• Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. United States Army Corps of Engineers · 531 U.S. 159 (2001)
• United States v. Booker · 543 U.S. 220 (2005)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. Chenery Corp. · 332 U.S. 194 (1947)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• District of Columbia v. Heller · 554 U.S. 570 (2008)
• Bowman Transportation, Inc. v. Arkansas-Best Freight System, Inc. · 419 U.S. 281 (1974)
• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey · 505 U.S. 833 (1992)
• Dombrowski v. Pfister · 380 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Cohen v. California · 403 U.S. 15 (1971)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)

Cited by

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

• Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro · 579 U.S. 211 (2016)
• FDA v. Wages and White Lion Investments, LLC · 604 U.S. 542 (2025)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. · 567 U.S. 239 (2012)
• Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Assn. · 575 U.S. 92 (2015)
• Department of Commerce v. New York · 588 U.S. 752 (2019)
• Iancu v. Brunetti · 588 U.S. 388 (2019)
• FCC v. Prometheus Radio Project · 592 U.S. 414 (2021)
• United States v. Stevens · 559 U.S. 460 (2010)
• Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Assn. · 564 U.S. 786 (2011)
• Judulang v. Holder · 565 U.S. 42 (2011)
• Biden v. Texas · 597 U.S. 785 (2022)
• Ohio v. Environmental Protection Agency · 603 U.S. 279 (2024)
• Arizona v. City and County of San Francisco · 596 U.S. 763 (2022)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Antonin Scalia’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2009). 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).