Louise Renne, San Francisco City Attorney, et al. v. Bob Geary, et al.

Decided June 17, 1991. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 90-769 · 501 U.S. 312 (1991) · Cited 542 times

Holding

The question whether 6(b) violates the First Amendment is not justiciable in this case, since respondents have not demonstrated a live controversy ripe for resolution by the federal courts.

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 6–3.

“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.

• Eu v. San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee · 489 U.S. 214 (1989)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce · 494 U.S. 652 (1990)
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• Regional Rail Reorganization Act Cases · 419 U.S. 102 (1974)
• Board of Trustees of State Univ. of NY v. Fox · 492 U.S. 469 (1989)
• Tashjian v. Republican Party of Connecticut · 479 U.S. 208 (1986)
• Bender v. Williamsport Area School District · 475 U.S. 534 (1986)
• Asarco Inc. v. Kadish · 490 U.S. 605 (1989)
• Allen v. Wright · 468 U.S. 737 (1984)
• Simon v. Eastern Kentucky Welfare Rights Organization · 426 U.S. 26 (1976)
• O'Shea v. Littleton · 414 U.S. 488 (1974)
• Storer v. Brown · 415 U.S. 724 (1974)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n · 460 U.S. 37 (1983)
• Babbitt v. United Farm Workers National Union · 442 U.S. 289 (1979)
• Moore v. Ogilvie · 394 U.S. 814 (1969)
• Rescue Army v. Municipal Court of Los Angeles · 331 U.S. 549 (1947)
• Pennsylvania v. West Virginia · 262 U.S. 553 (1923)
• Webster v. Reproductive Health Services · 492 U.S. 490 (1989)
• Public Affairs Associates, Inc. v. Rickover · 369 U.S. 111 (1962)
• Socialist Labor Party v. Gilligan · 406 U.S. 583 (1972)
• Conley v. Gibson · 355 U.S. 41 (1957)
• Warth v. Seldin · 422 U.S. 490 (1975)
• City of Los Angeles v. Lyons · 461 U.S. 95 (1983)
• Powers v. Ohio · 499 U.S. 400 (1991)
• Steffel v. Thompson · 415 U.S. 452 (1974)
• Blum v. Yaretsky · 457 U.S. 991 (1982)
• Anderson v. Celebrezze · 460 U.S. 780 (1983)
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)

Cited by

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

• Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 523 U.S. 83 (1998)
• Texas v. United States · 523 U.S. 296 (1998)
• United States v. Booker · 543 U.S. 220 (2005)
• Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services (TOC), Inc. · 528 U.S. 167 (2000)
• DaimlerChrysler Corp. v. Cuno · 547 U.S. 332 (2006)
• Republican Party of Minnesota v. White · 536 U.S. 765 (2002)
• Wyoming v. Oklahoma · 502 U.S. 437 (1992)
• Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. Federal Election Commission · 518 U.S. 604 (1996)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Anthony McLeod Kennedy’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1991). 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).