Maryland v. Macon

Decided June 17, 1985. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 84-778 · 472 U.S. 463 (1985) · Cited 625 times

Holding

The detectives did not obtain possession of the allegedly obscene magazines by means of an unreasonable search or seizure, and the magazines were not the fruit of an arrest, lawful or otherwise.

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 7–2.

“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.

• Roaden v. Kentucky · 413 U.S. 496 (1973)
• Marcus v. Search Warrant of Property · 367 U.S. 717 (1961)
• Lo-Ji Sales, Inc. v. New York · 442 U.S. 319 (1979)
• United States v. Crews · 445 U.S. 463 (1980)
• Stanford v. Texas · 379 U.S. 476 (1965)
• Lewis v. United States · 385 U.S. 206 (1966)
• United States v. Jacobsen · 466 U.S. 109 (1984)
• United States v. Leon · 468 U.S. 897 (1984)
• Scott v. United States · 436 U.S. 128 (1978)
• Frisbie v. Collins · 342 U.S. 519 (1952)
• United States v. Blue · 384 U.S. 251 (1966)
• Katz v. United States · 389 U.S. 347 (1967)
• Brinegar v. United States · 338 U.S. 160 (1949)
• Johnson v. United States · 333 U.S. 10 (1948)
• Boyd v. United States · 116 U.S. 616 (1886)
• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• New Jersey v. T. L. O. · 469 U.S. 325 (1985)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
• Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan · 372 U.S. 58 (1963)
• United States v. Knotts · 460 U.S. 276 (1983)
• Heller v. New York · 413 U.S. 483 (1973)
• Lee Art Theatre, Inc. v. Virginia · 392 U.S. 636 (1968)

Cited by

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

• New York v. P. J. Video, Inc. · 475 U.S. 868 (1986)
• Horton v. California · 496 U.S. 128 (1990)
• Arizona v. Hicks · 480 U.S. 321 (1987)
• Soldal v. Cook County · 506 U.S. 56 (1992)
• New York v. Class · 475 U.S. 106 (1986)
• Alexander v. United States · 509 U.S. 544 (1993)
• Fort Wayne Books, Inc. v. Indiana · 489 U.S. 46 (1989)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1985). 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).