Michael a. Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation

Decided February 21, 1995. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 93-1525 · 513 U.S. 374 (1995) · Cited 483 times

Holding

Where, as here, the Government creates a corporation by special law, for the furtherance of governmental objectives, and retains for itself permanent authority to appoint a majority of that corporation’s directors, the corporation is part of the Government for purposes of 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 8–1.

“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.

• Yee v. City of Escondido · 503 U.S. 519 (1992)
• Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority · 365 U.S. 715 (1961)
• National Railroad Passenger Corp. v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. · 470 U.S. 451 (1985)
• Blum v. Yaretsky · 457 U.S. 991 (1982)
• Rendell-Baker v. Kohn · 457 U.S. 830 (1982)
• Regional Rail Reorganization Act Cases · 419 U.S. 102 (1974)
• United States National Bank v. Independent Insurance Agents of America, Inc. · 508 U.S. 439 (1993)
• Cherry Cotton Mills, Inc. v. United States · 327 U.S. 536 (1946)
• Stone v. Powell · 428 U.S. 465 (1976)
• Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co. · 419 U.S. 345 (1974)
• Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co. · 500 U.S. 614 (1991)
• McCormick v. United States · 500 U.S. 257 (1991)
• Shelley v. Kraemer · 334 U.S. 1 (1948)
• Steagald v. United States · 451 U.S. 204 (1981)
• San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. United States Olympic Committee · 483 U.S. 522 (1987)
• Reconstruction Finance Corporation v. JG Menihan Corp. · 312 U.S. 81 (1941)
• Pennsylvania v. Board of Directors of City Trusts of Philadelphia · 353 U.S. 230 (1957)
• United States v. Mendenhall · 446 U.S. 544 (1980)
• Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co. · 457 U.S. 922 (1982)
• Osborn v. Bank of United States · 22 U.S. 738 (1824)
• Kamen v. Kemper Financial Services, Inc. · 500 U.S. 90 (1991)
• Moose Lodge No. 107 v. Irvis · 407 U.S. 163 (1972)
• Marsh v. Alabama · 326 U.S. 501 (1946)
• Plessy v. Ferguson · 163 U.S. 537 (1896)
• Taylor v. Freeland & Kronz · 503 U.S. 638 (1992)
• Ex Parte Virginia · 100 U.S. 339 (1880)
• United States v. Williams · 504 U.S. 36 (1992)
• Virginia Bankshares, Inc. v. Sandberg · 501 U.S. 1083 (1991)
• Burks v. Lasker · 441 U.S. 471 (1979)
• National Railroad Passenger Corporation v. Boston & Maine Corp. · 503 U.S. 407 (1992)

Cited by

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

• Department of Transportation v. Association of American Railroads · 575 U.S. 43 (2015)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Biden v. Nebraska · 600 U.S. 477 (2023)
• Brentwood Academy v. Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Assn. · 531 U.S. 288 (2001)
• Financial Oversight and Management Bd. for Puerto Rico v. Aurelius Investment, LLC · 590 U.S. 448 (2020)
• Powerex Corp. v. Reliant Energy Services, Inc. · 551 U.S. 224 (2007)
• Genesis HealthCare Corp. v. Symczyk · 569 U.S. 66 (2013)
• United States v. United Foods, Inc. · 533 U.S. 405 (2001)
• Mitchell v. Wisconsin · 588 U.S. 840 (2019)
• Missouri v. Jenkins · 515 U.S. 70 (1995)
• Clark v. Arizona · 548 U.S. 735 (2006)
• Hubbard v. United States · 514 U.S. 695 (1995)
• Stanley v. City of Sanford · 606 U.S. 46 (2025)
• Oklahoma Tax Commission v. Chickasaw Nation · 515 U.S. 450 (1995)
• Jefferson v. Upton · 560 U.S. 284 (2010)
• Morse v. Republican Party of Virginia · 517 U.S. 186 (1996)
• Wisconsin Bell, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Heath · 604 U.S. 140 (2025)
• Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L. P. · 595 U.S. 178 (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 (1995). 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).