Kingsley International Pictures Corp. v. Regents of the University of the State of New York

Decided June 29, 1959. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 394 · 360 U.S. 684 (1959) · Cited 291 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 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.

• Near v. Minnesota Ex Rel. Olson · 283 U.S. 697 (1931)
• Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson · 343 U.S. 495 (1952)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Whitney v. California · 274 U.S. 357 (1927)
• Swearingen v. United States · 161 U.S. 446 (1896)
• Superior Films, Inc. v. Department of Ed. of Ohio · 346 U.S. 587 (1954)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Thomas v. Collins · 323 U.S. 516 (1945)
• Winters v. New York · 333 U.S. 507 (1948)
• Dennis v. United States · 341 U.S. 494 (1951)
• Bridges v. California · 314 U.S. 252 (1941)
• Kingsley Books, Inc. v. Brown · 354 U.S. 436 (1957)
• Beauharnais v. Illinois · 343 U.S. 250 (1952)
• Albertson v. Millard, Attorney General · 345 U.S. 242 (1953)
• Aero Mayflower Transit Co. v. Board of Railroad Commissioners · 332 U.S. 495 (1947)

Cited by

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

• Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. City of Dallas · 390 U.S. 676 (1968)
• Jacobellis v. Ohio · 378 U.S. 184 (1964)
• Times Film Corp. v. City of Chicago · 365 U.S. 43 (1961)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Bellotti · 435 U.S. 765 (1978)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• Smith v. California · 361 U.S. 147 (1959)
• Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition · 535 U.S. 234 (2002)
• Minnesota v. Clover Leaf Creamery Co. · 449 U.S. 456 (1981)
• McConnell v. Federal Election Commission · 540 U.S. 93 (2003)
• Brown v. Louisiana · 383 U.S. 131 (1966)
• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• Branzburg v. Hayes · 408 U.S. 665 (1972)
• Coleman v. Alabama · 399 U.S. 1 (1970)
• Stanley v. Georgia · 394 U.S. 557 (1969)
• Freedman v. Maryland · 380 U.S. 51 (1965)
• Doe v. Bolton · 410 U.S. 179 (1973)
• Abood v. Detroit Board of Education · 431 U.S. 209 (1977)
• Riley v. National Federation of Blind of North Carolina, Inc. · 487 U.S. 781 (1988)
• A Book Named \John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure\" v. Attorney General of Massachusetts" · 383 U.S. 413 (1966)
• Montana v. Egelhoff · 518 U.S. 37 (1996)
• Bates v. City of Little Rock · 361 U.S. 516 (1960)
• A Quantity of Copies of Books v. Kansas · 378 U.S. 205 (1964)
• Hortonville Joint School District No. 1 v. Hortonville Education Ass'n · 426 U.S. 482 (1976)
• Cramp v. Board of Public Instruction of Orange Cty. · 368 U.S. 278 (1961)
• Posadas De Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Co. of Puerto Rico · 478 U.S. 328 (1986)
• Kaplan v. California · 413 U.S. 115 (1973)
• Law Students Civil Rights Research Council, Inc. v. Wadmond · 401 U.S. 154 (1971)
• Groppi v. Wisconsin · 400 U.S. 505 (1971)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Potter Stewart’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).