Federal Communications Commission v. League of Women Voters of California et al.

Decided July 2, 1984. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 82-912 · 468 U.S. 364 (1984) · Cited 473 times

Holding

Section 399's ban on editorializing violates the First Amendment.

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.

• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)
• Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Democratic National Committee · 412 U.S. 94 (1973)
• Regan v. Taxation With Representation of Washington · 461 U.S. 540 (1983)
• First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Bellotti · 435 U.S. 765 (1978)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Consolidated Edison Co. of New York v. Public Service Commission · 447 U.S. 530 (1980)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation · 438 U.S. 726 (1978)
• Griggs v. Provident Consumer Discount Co. · 459 U.S. 56 (1982)
• United Public Workers of America v. Mitchell · 330 U.S. 75 (1947)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• United States Civil Service Commission v. National Ass'n of Letter Carriers · 413 U.S. 548 (1973)
• Carey v. Brown · 447 U.S. 455 (1980)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• White v. New Hampshire Department of Employment Security · 455 U.S. 445 (1982)
• Whitney v. California · 274 U.S. 357 (1927)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Claiborne Hardware Co. · 458 U.S. 886 (1982)
• Bolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp. · 463 U.S. 60 (1983)
• Mills v. Alabama · 384 U.S. 214 (1966)
• Oklahoma v. United States Civil Service Commission · 330 U.S. 127 (1947)
• Perry v. Sindermann · 408 U.S. 593 (1972)
• Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission · 447 U.S. 557 (1980)
• Members of the City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent · 466 U.S. 789 (1984)
• Wooley v. Maynard · 430 U.S. 705 (1977)
• American Communications Assn. v. Douds · 339 U.S. 382 (1950)
• National Broadcasting Co. v. United States · 319 U.S. 190 (1943)
• United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. · 334 U.S. 131 (1948)
• Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo · 418 U.S. 241 (1974)
• Police Department of Chicago v. Mosley · 408 U.S. 92 (1972)

Cited by

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

• Agency for Int'l Development v. Alliance for Open Society Int'l, Inc. · 570 U.S. 205 (2013)
• Rust v. Sullivan · 500 U.S. 173 (1991)
• Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes · 523 U.S. 666 (1998)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• Banister v. Davis · 590 U.S. 504 (2020)
• Legal Services Corp. v. Velazquez · 531 U.S. 533 (2001)
• Agency for Int'l Development v. Alliance for Open Society · 591 U.S. 430 (2020)
• Arkansas Writers' Project, Inc. v. Ragland · 481 U.S. 221 (1987)
• Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce · 494 U.S. 652 (1990)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 497 U.S. 547 (1990)
• City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising of Austin, LLC · 596 U.S. 61 (2022)
• Diamond v. Charles · 476 U.S. 54 (1986)
• Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement · 505 U.S. 123 (1992)
• Board of Comm'rs, Wabaunsee Cty. v. Umbehr · 518 U.S. 668 (1996)
• United States v. National Treasury Employees Union · 513 U.S. 454 (1995)
• City of Los Angeles v. Preferred Communications, Inc. · 476 U.S. 488 (1986)
• Buchanan v. Stanships, Inc. · 485 U.S. 265 (1988)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1984). 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).