Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc.

Decided June 25, 1974. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 72-617 · 418 U.S. 323 (1974) · Cited 4,525 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 7–2.

“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.

• Rosenbloom v. Metromedia, Inc. · 403 U.S. 29 (1971)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts · 388 U.S. 130 (1967)
• Time, Inc. v. Hill · 385 U.S. 374 (1967)
• Rosenblatt v. Baer · 383 U.S. 75 (1966)
• Garrison v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 64 (1964)
• Near v. Minnesota Ex Rel. Olson · 283 U.S. 697 (1931)
• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire · 315 U.S. 568 (1942)
• Beauharnais v. Illinois · 343 U.S. 250 (1952)
• Mapp v. Ohio · 367 U.S. 643 (1961)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• St. Amant v. Thompson · 390 U.S. 727 (1968)
• Dennis v. United States · 341 U.S. 494 (1951)
• Beckley Newspapers Corp. v. Hanks · 389 U.S. 81 (1967)
• Younger v. Harris · 401 U.S. 37 (1971)
• In Re WINSHIP · 397 U.S. 358 (1970)
• Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Palko v. Connecticut · 302 U.S. 319 (1937)
• Stanley v. Georgia · 394 U.S. 557 (1969)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Stromberg v. California · 283 U.S. 359 (1931)
• Barr v. Matteo · 360 U.S. 564 (1959)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
• Murdock v. Pennsylvania · 319 U.S. 105 (1943)
• Bridges v. California · 314 U.S. 252 (1941)
• Associated Press v. United States · 326 U.S. 1 (1945)
• Mills v. Alabama · 384 U.S. 214 (1966)
• Abrams v. United States · 250 U.S. 616 (1919)

Cited by

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

• Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. · 472 U.S. 749 (1985)
• Time, Inc. v. Firestone · 424 U.S. 448 (1976)
• Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. v. Hepps · 475 U.S. 767 (1986)
• Wolston v. Reader's Digest Assn., Inc. · 443 U.S. 157 (1979)
• Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. · 497 U.S. 1 (1990)
• Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn · 420 U.S. 469 (1975)
• Counterman v. Colorado · 600 U.S. 66 (2023)
• Herbert v. Lando · 441 U.S. 153 (1979)
• United States v. Alvarez · 567 U.S. 709 (2012)
• Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. · 477 U.S. 242 (1986)
• Pacific Mutual Life Insurance v. Haslip · 499 U.S. 1 (1991)
• Smith v. Wade · 461 U.S. 30 (1983)
• Federal Aviation Administration v. Cooper · 566 U.S. 284 (2012)
• Carey v. Piphus · 435 U.S. 247 (1978)
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. · 466 U.S. 485 (1984)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• Memphis Community School District v. Stachura · 477 U.S. 299 (1986)
• Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell · 485 U.S. 46 (1988)
• Elonis v. United States · 575 U.S. 723 (2015)
• Florida Star v. B. J. F. · 491 U.S. 524 (1989)
• Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co. · 433 U.S. 562 (1977)
• Philip Morris USA v. Williams · 549 U.S. 346 (2007)
• Connick Ex Rel. Parish of Orleans v. Myers · 461 U.S. 138 (1983)
• Spencer v. Kemna · 523 U.S. 1 (1998)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Waters v. Churchill · 511 U.S. 661 (1994)
• Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton · 491 U.S. 657 (1989)
• Hutchinson v. Proxmire · 443 U.S. 111 (1979)

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).