Janet Reno, Attorney General of the United States, et al. v. American Civil Liberties Union et al.

Decided June 26, 1997. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 96-511 · 521 U.S. 844 (1997) · Cited 1,180 times

Holding

Washington’s prohibition against “caus” or “aid” a suicide does not violate the Due Process Clause.

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.

“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.

• Ginsberg v. New York · 390 U.S. 629 (1968)
• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation · 438 U.S. 726 (1978)
• Sable Communications of California, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 492 U.S. 115 (1989)
• City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc. · 475 U.S. 41 (1986)
• Bolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp. · 463 U.S. 60 (1983)
• Brockett v. Spokane Arcades, Inc. · 472 U.S. 491 (1985)
• Butler v. Michigan · 352 U.S. 380 (1957)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)
• Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville · 422 U.S. 205 (1975)
• Virginia v. American Booksellers Assn., Inc. · 484 U.S. 383 (1988)
• Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement · 505 U.S. 123 (1992)
• United States v. Salerno · 481 U.S. 739 (1987)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Prince v. Massachusetts · 321 U.S. 158 (1944)
• Dombrowski v. Pfister · 380 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad · 420 U.S. 546 (1975)
• Carey v. Population Services International · 431 U.S. 678 (1977)
• Boos v. Barry · 485 U.S. 312 (1988)
• Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. v. Florida Gulf Coast Building & Construction Trades Council · 485 U.S. 568 (1988)
• United States v. Grace · 461 U.S. 171 (1983)
• Osborne v. Ohio · 495 U.S. 103 (1990)
• Consolidated Edison Co. of New York v. Public Service Commission · 447 U.S. 530 (1980)
• Pope v. Illinois · 481 U.S. 497 (1987)

Cited by

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

• Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union · 535 U.S. 564 (2002)
• United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc. · 529 U.S. 803 (2000)
• Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton · 606 U.S. 461 (2025)
• Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union · 542 U.S. 656 (2004)
• Packingham v. North Carolina · 582 U.S. 98 (2017)
• United States v. American Library Assn., Inc. · 539 U.S. 194 (2003)
• Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly · 533 U.S. 525 (2001)
• Iancu v. Brunetti · 588 U.S. 388 (2019)
• United States v. Williams · 553 U.S. 285 (2008)
• Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition · 535 U.S. 234 (2002)
• Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Assn. · 564 U.S. 786 (2011)
• District of Columbia v. Heller · 554 U.S. 570 (2008)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• United States v. Stevens · 559 U.S. 460 (2010)
• National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley · 524 U.S. 569 (1998)
• Hill v. Colorado · 530 U.S. 703 (2000)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. · 556 U.S. 502 (2009)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. · 567 U.S. 239 (2012)
• Moody v. NetChoice, LLC · 603 U.S. 707 (2024)
• United States v. Booker · 543 U.S. 220 (2005)
• Crawford-El v. Britton · 523 U.S. 574 (1998)
• Board of Trustees of Univ. of Ala. v. Garrett · 531 U.S. 356 (2001)
• McConnell v. Federal Election Commission · 540 U.S. 93 (2003)
• Seling v. Young · 531 U.S. 250 (2001)
• Counterman v. Colorado · 600 U.S. 66 (2023)
• Perttu v. Richards · 605 U.S. 460 (2025)
• Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee · 594 U.S. 647 (2021)
• 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis · 600 U.S. 570 (2023)
• Twitter, Inc. v. Taamneh · 598 U.S. 471 (2023)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1997). 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).