Hamling et al. v. United States

Decided June 24, 1974. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 73-507 · 418 U.S. 87 (1974) · Cited 2,897 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.

• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• A Book Named \John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure\" v. Attorney General of Massachusetts" · 383 U.S. 413 (1966)
• Manual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day · 370 U.S. 478 (1962)
• United States v. 12 200-Ft. Reels of Super 8MM. Film · 413 U.S. 123 (1973)
• Mishkin v. New York · 383 U.S. 502 (1966)
• Bouie v. City of Columbia · 378 U.S. 347 (1964)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
• Smith v. California · 361 U.S. 147 (1959)
• Ginzburg v. United States · 383 U.S. 463 (1966)
• United States v. Orito · 413 U.S. 139 (1973)
• Russell v. United States · 369 U.S. 749 (1962)
• United States v. Thirty-Seven (37) Photographs · 402 U.S. 363 (1971)
• United States v. Reidel · 402 U.S. 351 (1971)
• Rosen v. United States · 161 U.S. 29 (1896)
• Jacobellis v. Ohio · 378 U.S. 184 (1964)
• Lopez v. United States · 373 U.S. 427 (1963)
• United States v. Petrillo · 332 U.S. 1 (1947)
• Ham v. South Carolina · 409 U.S. 524 (1973)
• Namet v. United States · 373 U.S. 179 (1963)
• Kaplan v. California · 413 U.S. 115 (1973)
• Boyd v. United States · 271 U.S. 104 (1926)
• Glasser v. United States · 315 U.S. 60 (1942)
• Jenkins v. McKeithen · 395 U.S. 411 (1969)
• Linkletter v. Walker · 381 U.S. 618 (1965)
• Bradley v. School Bd. of Richmond · 416 U.S. 696 (1974)
• Michelson v. United States · 335 U.S. 469 (1948)
• Crowell v. Benson · 285 U.S. 22 (1932)
• Dunn v. United States · 284 U.S. 390 (1932)
• Dennis v. United States · 341 U.S. 494 (1951)

Cited by

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

• Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union · 535 U.S. 564 (2002)
• Elonis v. United States · 575 U.S. 723 (2015)
• United States v. Resendiz-Ponce · 549 U.S. 102 (2007)
• Smith v. United States · 431 U.S. 291 (1977)
• Counterman v. Colorado · 600 U.S. 66 (2023)
• Marks v. United States · 430 U.S. 188 (1977)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation · 438 U.S. 726 (1978)
• Osborne v. Ohio · 495 U.S. 103 (1990)
• Ward v. Illinois · 431 U.S. 767 (1977)
• United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. · 513 U.S. 64 (1994)
• Posters 'N' Things, Ltd. v. United States · 511 U.S. 513 (1994)
• Almendarez-Torres v. United States · 523 U.S. 224 (1998)
• New York v. Ferber · 458 U.S. 747 (1982)
• Jones v. United States · 526 U.S. 227 (1999)
• United States v. Bailey · 444 U.S. 394 (1980)
• Dothard v. Rawlinson · 433 U.S. 321 (1977)
• Liparota v. United States · 471 U.S. 419 (1985)
• United States v. O’Brien · 560 U.S. 218 (2010)
• Landgraf v. USI Film Products · 511 U.S. 244 (1994)
• Holloway v. Arkansas · 435 U.S. 475 (1978)
• Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. · 466 U.S. 485 (1984)
• FW/PBS, Inc. v. City of Dallas · 493 U.S. 215 (1990)
• Harris v. United States · 536 U.S. 545 (2002)
• Cheek v. United States · 498 U.S. 192 (1991)
• Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad · 420 U.S. 546 (1975)
• Ratzlaf v. United States · 510 U.S. 135 (1994)
• Geders v. United States · 425 U.S. 80 (1976)
• Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. v. Bonjorno · 494 U.S. 827 (1990)
• United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc. · 529 U.S. 803 (2000)
• Richardson v. United States · 526 U.S. 813 (1999)

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).