Laird, Secretary of Defense, et al. v. Tatum et al.

Decided June 26, 1972. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 71-288 · 408 U.S. 1 (1972) · Cited 1,272 times

Holding

Respondents' claim that their First Amendment rights are chilled, due to the mere existence of this data-gathering system, does not constitute a justiciable controversy on the basis of the record in this case, disclosing as it does no showing of objective harm or threat of specific future harm.

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 5–4.

“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.

• Lamont v. Postmaster General · 381 U.S. 301 (1965)
• Keyishian v. Board of Regents of Univ. of State of NY · 385 U.S. 589 (1967)
• Baggett v. Bullitt · 377 U.S. 360 (1964)
• Baird v. State Bar of Arizona · 401 U.S. 1 (1971)
• Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
• Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer · 343 U.S. 579 (1952)
• Reid v. Covert · 354 U.S. 1 (1957)
• O'Callahan v. Parker · 395 U.S. 258 (1969)
• Flast v. Cohen · 392 U.S. 83 (1968)
• McKart v. United States · 395 U.S. 185 (1969)
• United Public Workers of America v. Mitchell · 330 U.S. 75 (1947)
• Moose Lodge No. 107 v. Irvis · 407 U.S. 163 (1972)
• United States Ex Rel. Toth v. Quarles · 350 U.S. 11 (1955)
• Ex Parte Milligan · 71 U.S. 2 (1867)
• Oestereich v. Selective Service System Local Board No. 11 · 393 U.S. 233 (1968)
• Sterling v. Constantin · 287 U.S. 378 (1932)
• Parisi v. Davidson · 405 U.S. 34 (1972)
• Kinsella v. United States Ex Rel. Singleton · 361 U.S. 234 (1960)
• Noyd v. Bond · 395 U.S. 683 (1969)
• Billings v. Truesdell · 321 U.S. 542 (1944)
• McElroy v. United States Ex Rel. Guagliardo · 361 U.S. 281 (1960)

Cited by

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

• Clapper v. Amnesty International USA · 568 U.S. 398 (2013)
• New Jersey v. Portash · 440 U.S. 450 (1979)
• Meese v. Keene · 481 U.S. 465 (1987)
• Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta · 594 U.S. 595 (2021)
• Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. · 551 U.S. 587 (2007)
• Allen v. Wright · 468 U.S. 737 (1984)
• Gilligan v. Morgan · 413 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife · 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
• Scheuer v. Rhodes · 416 U.S. 232 (1974)
• Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc. · 454 U.S. 464 (1982)
• Powers v. Ohio · 499 U.S. 400 (1991)
• DaimlerChrysler Corp. v. Cuno · 547 U.S. 332 (2006)
• Vitek v. Jones · 445 U.S. 480 (1980)
• Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee to Stop the War · 418 U.S. 208 (1974)
• Linda RS v. Richard D. · 410 U.S. 614 (1973)
• United States v. Richardson · 418 U.S. 166 (1974)
• Bigelow v. Virginia · 421 U.S. 809 (1975)
• Board of Comm'rs, Wabaunsee Cty. v. Umbehr · 518 U.S. 668 (1996)
• California Bankers Assn. v. Shultz · 416 U.S. 21 (1974)
• Zivotofsky Ex Rel. Zivotofsky v. Clinton · 566 U.S. 189 (2012)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1972). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).