Illinois Ex Rel. Lisa Madigan, Attorney General of Illinois v. Telemarketing Associates, Inc., et al.
Decided May 5, 2003. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 01-1806 · 538 U.S. 600 (2003) · Cited 125 times
Holding
Consistent with this Court’s precedent and the First Amendment, States may maintain fraud actions when fundraisers make false or misleading representations designed to deceive donors about how their donations will be used.
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 9–0.
Majority · 7
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- David Hackett Souter
- John Paul Stevens
- Sandra Day O'Connor
- Stephen Gerald Breyer
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
Concurring · 2
- Antonin Scalia · filed a concurring opinion
- Clarence Thomas
“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.
- Riley v. National Federation of Blind of North Carolina, Inc. · 487 U.S. 781 (1988)
- Village of Schaumburg v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 444 U.S. 620 (1980)
- Secretary of State of Md. v. Joseph H. Munson Co. · 467 U.S. 947 (1984)
- Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. · 466 U.S. 485 (1984)
- Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
- Donaldson v. Read Magazine, Inc. · 333 U.S. 178 (1948)
- New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
- Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
- Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
- Freedman v. Maryland · 380 U.S. 51 (1965)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- United States v. Williams · 553 U.S. 285 (2008)
- United States v. Alvarez · 567 U.S. 709 (2012)
- New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen · 597 U.S. 1 (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 (2003). 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).