First National Bank of Boston et al. v. Bellotti, Attorney General of Massachusetts

Decided April 26, 1978. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 76-1172 · 435 U.S. 765 (1978) · Cited 1,551 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)
• Abood v. Detroit Board of Education · 431 U.S. 209 (1977)
• International Ass'n of MacHinists v. Street · 367 U.S. 740 (1961)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo · 418 U.S. 241 (1974)
• United States v. International Union United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers · 352 U.S. 567 (1957)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Grosjean v. American Press Co. · 297 U.S. 233 (1936)
• Pipefitters Local Union No. 562 v. United States · 407 U.S. 385 (1972)
• 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)
• Linmark Associates, Inc. v. Township of Willingboro · 431 U.S. 85 (1977)
• Haguer v. Committee for Industrial Organization · 307 U.S. 496 (1939)
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)
• Lovell v. City of Griffin · 303 U.S. 444 (1938)
• Gitlow v. New York · 268 U.S. 652 (1925)
• Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson · 343 U.S. 495 (1952)
• Associated Press v. United States · 326 U.S. 1 (1945)
• Kingsley International Pictures Corp. v. Regents of the University · 360 U.S. 684 (1959)
• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette · 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• Weinstein v. Bradford · 423 U.S. 147 (1975)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Thomas v. Collins · 323 U.S. 516 (1945)
• Time, Inc. v. Hill · 385 U.S. 374 (1967)
• United States v. White · 322 U.S. 694 (1944)
• Bigelow v. Virginia · 421 U.S. 809 (1975)
• Mills v. Alabama · 384 U.S. 214 (1966)
• Time, Inc. v. Firestone · 424 U.S. 448 (1976)

Cited by

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

• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. · 551 U.S. 449 (2007)
• Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce · 494 U.S. 652 (1990)
• McConnell v. Federal Election Commission · 540 U.S. 93 (2003)
• Citizens Against Rent Control/Coalition for Fair Housing v. City of Berkeley · 454 U.S. 290 (1981)
• Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Utilities Commission · 475 U.S. 1 (1986)
• McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission · 514 U.S. 334 (1995)
• Consolidated Edison Co. of New York v. Public Service Commission · 447 U.S. 530 (1980)
• Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission · 447 U.S. 557 (1980)
• Davis v. Federal Election Commission · 554 U.S. 724 (2008)
• Federal Communications Commission v. League of Women Voters of California · 468 U.S. 364 (1984)
• Federal Election Commission v. Massachusetts Citizens for Life, Inc. · 479 U.S. 238 (1986)
• 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)
• Davenport v. Washington Education Ass'n · 551 U.S. 177 (2007)
• Board of Ed., Island Trees Union Free School Dist. No. 26 v. Pico · 457 U.S. 853 (1982)
• Friedman v. Rogers · 440 U.S. 1 (1979)
• Reed v. Town of Gilbert · 576 U.S. 155 (2015)
• Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego · 453 U.S. 490 (1981)
• Herbert v. Lando · 441 U.S. 153 (1979)
• Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. · 472 U.S. 749 (1985)
• Buckley v. American Constitutional Law Foundation, Inc. · 525 U.S. 182 (1999)
• 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)
• Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n · 460 U.S. 37 (1983)
• Browning-Ferris Industries of Vermont, Inc. v. Kelco Disposal, Inc. · 492 U.S. 257 (1989)
• Secretary of State of Md. v. Joseph H. Munson Co. · 467 U.S. 947 (1984)
• Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. v. Hepps · 475 U.S. 767 (1986)
• Eu v. San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee · 489 U.S. 214 (1989)
• Meyer v. Grant · 486 U.S. 414 (1988)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Lewis Franklin Powell Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).