Forsyth County, Georgia v. the Nationalist Movement

Decided June 19, 1992. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 91-538 · 505 U.S. 123 (1992) · Cited 951 times

Holding

The ordinance is facially invalid.

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.

• Cox v. New Hampshire · 312 U.S. 569 (1941)
• Murdock v. Pennsylvania · 319 U.S. 105 (1943)
• Ward v. Rock Against Racism · 491 U.S. 781 (1989)
• Boos v. Barry · 485 U.S. 312 (1988)
• Niemotko v. Maryland · 340 U.S. 268 (1951)
• Arkansas Writers' Project, Inc. v. Ragland · 481 U.S. 221 (1987)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Members of the City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent · 466 U.S. 789 (1984)
• Gooding v. Wilson · 405 U.S. 518 (1972)
• Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham · 394 U.S. 147 (1969)
• City of Lakewood v. Plain Dealer Publishing Co. · 486 U.S. 750 (1988)
• Board of Airport Comm'rs of Los Angeles v. Jews for Jesus, Inc. · 482 U.S. 569 (1987)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• New York v. Ferber · 458 U.S. 747 (1982)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Freedman v. Maryland · 380 U.S. 51 (1965)
• Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. · 452 U.S. 640 (1981)
• Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad · 420 U.S. 546 (1975)
• Terminiello v. Chicago · 337 U.S. 1 (1949)
• Frisby v. Schultz · 487 U.S. 474 (1988)
• Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan · 372 U.S. 58 (1963)
• United States v. Grace · 461 U.S. 171 (1983)
• Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell · 485 U.S. 46 (1988)
• Brockett v. Spokane Arcades, Inc. · 472 U.S. 491 (1985)
• Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of the New York State Crime Victims Board · 502 U.S. 105 (1991)
• Regan v. Time, Inc. · 468 U.S. 641 (1984)
• Federal Communications Commission v. League of Women Voters of California · 468 U.S. 364 (1984)

Cited by

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

• Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky · 585 U.S. 1 (2018)
• District of Columbia v. Heller · 554 U.S. 570 (2008)
• Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes · 523 U.S. 666 (1998)
• Thomas v. Chicago Park District · 534 U.S. 316 (2002)
• Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union · 521 U.S. 844 (1997)
• National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley · 524 U.S. 569 (1998)
• City of Los Angeles v. Alameda Books, Inc. · 535 U.S. 425 (2002)
• Madsen v. Women's Health Center, Inc. · 512 U.S. 753 (1994)
• City of Ladue v. Gilleo · 512 U.S. 43 (1994)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• United States v. American Library Assn., Inc. · 539 U.S. 194 (2003)
• Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Comm'n · 584 U.S. 617 (2018)
• City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising of Austin, LLC · 596 U.S. 61 (2022)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1992). 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).