Legal Services Corporation v. Carmen Velazquez, et al.

Decided February 28, 2001. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 99-603 · 531 U.S. 533 (2001) · Cited 314 times

Holding

The funding restriction 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 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.

• Rust v. Sullivan · 500 U.S. 173 (1991)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)
• Federal Communications Commission v. League of Women Voters of California · 468 U.S. 364 (1984)
• National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley · 524 U.S. 569 (1998)
• Regan v. Taxation With Representation of Washington · 461 U.S. 540 (1983)
• Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes · 523 U.S. 666 (1998)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Arkansas Writers' Project, Inc. v. Ragland · 481 U.S. 221 (1987)
• Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth · 529 U.S. 217 (2000)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Goldberg v. Kelly · 397 U.S. 254 (1970)
• Polk County v. Dodson · 454 U.S. 312 (1981)
• Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno · 454 U.S. 235 (1981)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n · 460 U.S. 37 (1983)
• Hagans v. Lavine · 415 U.S. 528 (1974)
• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey · 505 U.S. 833 (1992)
• New York v. United States · 505 U.S. 144 (1992)
• United States v. L. A. Tucker Truck Lines, Inc. · 344 U.S. 33 (1952)
• Gomez v. United States · 490 U.S. 858 (1989)
• Bowen v. Michigan Academy of Family Physicians · 476 U.S. 667 (1986)
• Webster v. Doe · 486 U.S. 592 (1988)
• United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez · 494 U.S. 259 (1990)
• Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District · 508 U.S. 384 (1993)
• Maher v. Roe · 432 U.S. 464 (1977)
• Carter v. Carter Coal Co. · 298 U.S. 238 (1936)
• Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists · 476 U.S. 747 (1986)
• Alaska Airlines, Inc. v. Brock · 480 U.S. 678 (1987)

Cited by

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

• United States v. American Library Assn., Inc. · 539 U.S. 194 (2003)
• Iancu v. Brunetti · 588 U.S. 388 (2019)
• Matal v. Tam · 582 U.S. 218 (2017)
• Agency for Int'l Development v. Alliance for Open Society Int'l, Inc. · 570 U.S. 205 (2013)
• Perry v. Merit Systems Protection Bd. · 582 U.S. 420 (2017)
• Vidal v. Elster · 602 U.S. 286 (2024)
• Garcetti v. Ceballos · 547 U.S. 410 (2006)
• Jerman v. Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer & Ulrich, L.P.A. · 559 U.S. 573 (2010)
• Agency for Int'l Development v. Alliance for Open Society · 591 U.S. 430 (2020)
• United States v. Booker · 543 U.S. 220 (2005)
• National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius · 567 U.S. 519 (2012)
• Carson v. Makin · 596 U.S. 767 (2022)
• Shurtleff v. Boston · 596 U.S. 243 (2022)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2001). 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).