Hustler Magazine and Larry C. Flynt v. Jerry Falwell

Decided February 24, 1988. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 86-1278 · 485 U.S. 46 (1988) · Cited 951 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 8–0.

“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.

• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation · 438 U.S. 726 (1978)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire · 315 U.S. 568 (1942)
• Garrison v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 64 (1964)
• Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. · 466 U.S. 485 (1984)
• Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts · 388 U.S. 130 (1967)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Claiborne Hardware Co. · 458 U.S. 886 (1982)
• Time, Inc. v. Hill · 385 U.S. 374 (1967)
• Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. · 472 U.S. 749 (1985)
• Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. v. Hepps · 475 U.S. 767 (1986)
• Street v. New York · 394 U.S. 576 (1969)
• Abrams v. United States · 250 U.S. 616 (1919)
• Monitor Patriot Co. v. Roy · 401 U.S. 265 (1971)
• Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co. · 433 U.S. 562 (1977)
• Baumgartner v. United States · 322 U.S. 665 (1944)

Cited by

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

• Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. · 497 U.S. 1 (1990)
• United States v. Alvarez · 567 U.S. 709 (2012)
• Snyder v. Phelps · 562 U.S. 443 (2011)
• Cohen v. Cowles Media Co. · 501 U.S. 663 (1991)
• Iancu v. Brunetti · 588 U.S. 388 (2019)
• Matal v. Tam · 582 U.S. 218 (2017)
• Texas v. Johnson · 491 U.S. 397 (1989)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Thornburgh v. Abbott · 490 U.S. 401 (1989)
• Owens v. Okure · 488 U.S. 235 (1989)
• Waters v. Churchill · 511 U.S. 661 (1994)
• Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton · 491 U.S. 657 (1989)
• Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement · 505 U.S. 123 (1992)
• Knox v. Service Employees International Union, Local 1000 · 567 U.S. 298 (2012)
• Riley v. National Federation of Blind of North Carolina, Inc. · 487 U.S. 781 (1988)
• Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston, Inc. · 515 U.S. 557 (1995)
• Burson v. Freeman · 504 U.S. 191 (1992)
• United States v. Kokinda · 497 U.S. 720 (1990)
• Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of the New York State Crime Victims Board · 502 U.S. 105 (1991)
• City of Ladue v. Gilleo · 512 U.S. 43 (1994)
• Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union · 535 U.S. 564 (2002)
• BE&K Construction Co. v. National Labor Relations Board · 536 U.S. 516 (2002)
• Shapero v. Kentucky Bar Assn. · 486 U.S. 466 (1988)
• United States v. Eichman · 496 U.S. 310 (1990)
• Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Comm'n · 584 U.S. 617 (2018)
• Fulton v. Philadelphia · 593 U.S. 522 (2021)
• Mahanoy Area School Dist. v. B. L. · 594 U.S. 180 (2021)

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).