Landmark Communications, Inc. v. Virginia

Decided May 1, 1978. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 76-1450 · 435 U.S. 829 (1978) · Cited 585 times

Holding

The First Amendment does not permit the criminal punishment of third persons who are strangers to proceedings before such a commission for divulging or publishing truthful information regarding confidential proceedings of the commission.

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 7–0.

“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.

• Pennekamp v. Florida · 328 U.S. 331 (1946)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Bridges v. California · 314 U.S. 252 (1941)
• Wood v. Georgia · 370 U.S. 375 (1962)
• Nebraska Press Assn. v. Stuart · 427 U.S. 539 (1976)
• Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn · 420 U.S. 469 (1975)
• Craig v. Harney · 331 U.S. 367 (1947)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Sheppard v. Maxwell · 384 U.S. 333 (1966)
• Pell v. Procunier · 417 U.S. 817 (1974)
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• Garrison v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 64 (1964)
• Near v. Minnesota Ex Rel. Olson · 283 U.S. 697 (1931)
• New York Times Co. v. United States · 403 U.S. 713 (1971)
• Whitney v. California · 274 U.S. 357 (1927)
• Mills v. Alabama · 384 U.S. 214 (1966)
• Linmark Associates, Inc. v. Township of Willingboro · 431 U.S. 85 (1977)
• Saxbe v. Washington Post Co. · 417 U.S. 843 (1974)
• In Re Sawyer · 360 U.S. 622 (1959)
• O'Brien v. Skinner · 414 U.S. 524 (1974)

Cited by

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

• Butterworth v. Smith · 494 U.S. 624 (1990)
• Florida Star v. B. J. F. · 491 U.S. 524 (1989)
• Smith v. Daily Mail Publishing Co. · 443 U.S. 97 (1979)
• Bartnicki v. Vopper · 532 U.S. 514 (2001)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Gannett Co. v. DePasquale · 443 U.S. 368 (1979)
• Gentile v. State Bar of Nev. · 501 U.S. 1030 (1991)
• Morse v. Frederick · 551 U.S. 393 (2007)
• Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia · 448 U.S. 555 (1980)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 520 U.S. 180 (1997)
• Brown v. Glines · 444 U.S. 348 (1980)
• Members of the City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent · 466 U.S. 789 (1984)
• Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence · 468 U.S. 288 (1984)
• Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court, County of Norfolk · 457 U.S. 596 (1982)
• Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., County of Riverside · 478 U.S. 1 (1986)
• Minnesota v. Clover Leaf Creamery Co. · 449 U.S. 456 (1981)
• Riley v. National Federation of Blind of North Carolina, Inc. · 487 U.S. 781 (1988)
• Sable Communications of California, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 492 U.S. 115 (1989)
• Houchins v. KQED, Inc. · 438 U.S. 1 (1978)
• Republican Party of Minnesota v. White · 536 U.S. 765 (2002)
• Federal Communications Commission v. League of Women Voters of California · 468 U.S. 364 (1984)
• City of Los Angeles v. Alameda Books, Inc. · 535 U.S. 425 (2002)
• Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce · 494 U.S. 652 (1990)
• Cohen v. Cowles Media Co. · 501 U.S. 663 (1991)
• Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. Federal Election Commission · 518 U.S. 604 (1996)
• City of Los Angeles v. Preferred Communications, Inc. · 476 U.S. 488 (1986)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1978). 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).