John J. Hurley and South Boston Allied War Veterans Council v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston, Etc., et al.

Decided June 19, 1995. David Hackett Souter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 94-749 · 515 U.S. 557 (1995) · Cited 874 times

Holding

The state courts’ application of the Massachusetts public accommodations law to require private citizens who organize a parade to include among the marchers a group imparting a message that the organizers do not wish to convey violates the First Amendment.

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.

• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Utilities Commission · 475 U.S. 1 (1986)
• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette · 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
• Roberts v. United States Jaycees · 468 U.S. 609 (1984)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. · 466 U.S. 485 (1984)
• PruneYard Shopping Center v. Robins · 447 U.S. 74 (1980)
• Edwards v. South Carolina · 372 U.S. 229 (1963)
• Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo · 418 U.S. 241 (1974)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District · 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
• Haguer v. Committee for Industrial Organization · 307 U.S. 496 (1939)
• Shelley v. Kraemer · 334 U.S. 1 (1948)
• Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence · 468 U.S. 288 (1984)
• Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley · 408 U.S. 92 (1972)
• Stromberg v. California · 283 U.S. 359 (1931)
• Brandenburg v. Ohio · 395 U.S. 444 (1969)
• Jacobellis v. Ohio · 378 U.S. 184 (1964)
• Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham · 394 U.S. 147 (1969)
• Wooley v. Maynard · 430 U.S. 705 (1977)
• Terminiello v. Chicago · 337 U.S. 1 (1949)
• Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton · 491 U.S. 657 (1989)
• Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell · 485 U.S. 46 (1988)
• McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission · 514 U.S. 334 (1995)
• Riley v. National Federation of Blind of North Carolina, Inc. · 487 U.S. 781 (1988)
• Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States · 379 U.S. 241 (1964)
• Zauderer v. Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the Supreme Court of Ohio · 471 U.S. 626 (1985)
• Spence v. Washington · 418 U.S. 405 (1974)
• Hudgens v. National Labor Relations Board · 424 U.S. 507 (1976)

Cited by

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

• Boy Scouts of America v. Dale · 530 U.S. 640 (2000)
• 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis · 600 U.S. 570 (2023)
• Moody v. NetChoice, LLC · 603 U.S. 707 (2024)
• Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Comm'n · 584 U.S. 617 (2018)
• Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party · 552 U.S. 442 (2008)
• Agency for Int'l Development v. Alliance for Open Society · 591 U.S. 430 (2020)
• Christian Legal Soc. Chapter of Univ. of Cal., Hastings College of Law v. Martinez · 561 U.S. 661 (2010)
• Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc. · 547 U.S. 47 (2006)
• Glickman v. Wileman Brothers & Elliott, Inc. · 521 U.S. 457 (1997)
• United States v. Williams · 553 U.S. 285 (2008)
• Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. · 551 U.S. 449 (2007)
• Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck · 587 U.S. 802 (2019)
• Walker v. Texas Div., Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc. · 576 U.S. 200 (2015)
• Johanns v. Livestock Marketing Assn. · 544 U.S. 550 (2005)
• California Democratic Party v. Jones · 530 U.S. 567 (2000)
• Fulton v. Philadelphia · 593 U.S. 522 (2021)
• Romer v. Evans · 517 U.S. 620 (1996)
• Snyder v. Phelps · 562 U.S. 443 (2011)
• PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin · 532 U.S. 661 (2001)
• Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes · 523 U.S. 666 (1998)
• National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley · 524 U.S. 569 (1998)
• Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC · 528 U.S. 377 (2000)
• Bartnicki v. Vopper · 532 U.S. 514 (2001)
• Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth · 529 U.S. 217 (2000)
• National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra · 585 U.S. 755 (2018)

Official text

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

Explore from here

David Hackett Souter’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1995). 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).