Federal Election Commission v. Massachusetts Citizens for Life, Inc.

Decided December 15, 1986. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 85-701 · 479 U.S. 238 (1986) · Cited 480 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 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.

• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Federal Election Commission v. National Right to Work Committee · 459 U.S. 197 (1982)
• Federal Election Commission v. National Conservative Political Action Committee · 470 U.S. 480 (1985)
• United States v. International Union United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers · 352 U.S. 567 (1957)
• Pipefitters Local Union No. 562 v. United States · 407 U.S. 385 (1972)
• First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Bellotti · 435 U.S. 765 (1978)
• Regan v. Taxation With Representation of Washington · 461 U.S. 540 (1983)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Williams v. Rhodes · 393 U.S. 23 (1968)
• Freedman v. Maryland · 380 U.S. 51 (1965)
• California Medical Ass'n v. Federal Election Commission · 453 U.S. 182 (1981)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. · 301 U.S. 1 (1937)
• Palko v. Connecticut · 302 U.S. 319 (1937)
• Whitney v. California · 274 U.S. 357 (1927)
• Abrams v. United States · 250 U.S. 616 (1919)
• 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.

• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce · 494 U.S. 652 (1990)
• Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. · 551 U.S. 449 (2007)
• McConnell v. Federal Election Commission · 540 U.S. 93 (2003)
• Federal Election Commission v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee · 533 U.S. 431 (2001)
• Federal Election Commission v. Beaumont · 539 U.S. 146 (2003)
• Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. Federal Election Commission · 518 U.S. 604 (1996)
• Davis v. Federal Election Commission · 554 U.S. 724 (2008)
• McCutcheon v. Federal Election Comm'n · 572 U.S. 185 (2014)
• Randall v. Sorrell · 548 U.S. 230 (2006)
• Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC · 528 U.S. 377 (2000)
• Meese v. Keene · 481 U.S. 465 (1987)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• Federal Election Commission v. Akins · 524 U.S. 11 (1998)
• Meyer v. Grant · 486 U.S. 414 (1988)
• Federal Election Commission v. NRA Political Victory Fund · 513 U.S. 88 (1994)

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).