Meyer, Colorado Secretary of State, et al. v. Grant et al.

Decided June 6, 1988. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-920 · 486 U.S. 414 (1988) · Cited 671 times

Holding

The statutory prohibition against the use of paid circulators abridges appellees' right to engage in political speech in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

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 9–0.

“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.

• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Posadas De Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Co. of Puerto Rico · 478 U.S. 328 (1986)
• Village of Schaumburg v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 444 U.S. 620 (1980)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Bellotti · 435 U.S. 765 (1978)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• Murphy v. Hunt · 455 U.S. 478 (1982)
• Weinstein v. Bradford · 423 U.S. 147 (1975)
• Williams v. Rhodes · 393 U.S. 23 (1968)
• Thomas v. Collins · 323 U.S. 516 (1945)
• Moore v. Ogilvie · 394 U.S. 814 (1969)
• Federal Election Commission v. Massachusetts Citizens for Life, Inc. · 479 U.S. 238 (1986)
• Citizens Against Rent Control/Coalition for Fair Housing v. City of Berkeley · 454 U.S. 290 (1981)
• Brown v. Hartlage · 456 U.S. 45 (1982)

Cited by

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

• Buckley v. American Constitutional Law Foundation, Inc. · 525 U.S. 182 (1999)
• Barr v. American Assn. of Political Consultants, Inc. · 591 U.S. 610 (2020)
• Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC · 528 U.S. 377 (2000)
• Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce · 494 U.S. 652 (1990)
• McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission · 514 U.S. 334 (1995)
• Riley v. National Federation of Blind of North Carolina, Inc. · 487 U.S. 781 (1988)
• Burson v. Freeman · 504 U.S. 191 (1992)
• Republican Party of Minnesota v. White · 536 U.S. 765 (2002)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Hill v. Colorado · 530 U.S. 703 (2000)
• United States v. Kokinda · 497 U.S. 720 (1990)
• City of Cuyahoga Falls v. Buckeye Community Hope Foundation · 538 U.S. 188 (2003)
• City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising of Austin, LLC · 596 U.S. 61 (2022)
• Nevada Commission on Ethics v. Carrigan · 564 U.S. 117 (2011)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1988). 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).