Michael Boos, J. Michael Waller and Bridget Brooker v. Marion S. Barry, Jr., Mayor, District of Columbia, et al.

Decided March 22, 1988. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 86-803 · 485 U.S. 312 (1988) · Cited 1,104 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–3.

“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.

• City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc. · 475 U.S. 41 (1986)
• Police Department of Chicago v. Mosley · 408 U.S. 92 (1972)
• United States v. Grace · 461 U.S. 171 (1983)
• Carey v. Brown · 447 U.S. 455 (1980)
• Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n · 460 U.S. 37 (1983)
• New York v. Ferber · 458 U.S. 747 (1982)
• United States v. Thirty-Seven (37) Photographs · 402 U.S. 363 (1971)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Hoffman Estates v. Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc. · 455 U.S. 489 (1982)
• Board of Airport Comm'rs of Los Angeles v. Jews for Jesus, Inc. · 482 U.S. 569 (1987)
• Connick Ex Rel. Parish of Orleans v. Myers · 461 U.S. 138 (1983)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• Kolender v. Lawson · 461 U.S. 352 (1983)
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• Members of the City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent · 466 U.S. 789 (1984)
• Haguer v. Committee for Industrial Organization · 307 U.S. 496 (1939)
• Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. · 473 U.S. 788 (1985)
• Whalen v. United States · 445 U.S. 684 (1980)
• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 536 (1965)
• City of Houston v. Hill · 482 U.S. 451 (1987)
• Gooding v. Wilson · 405 U.S. 518 (1972)
• Widmar v. Vincent · 454 U.S. 263 (1981)
• Complete Auto Transit, Inc. v. Brady · 430 U.S. 274 (1977)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Claiborne Hardware Co. · 458 U.S. 886 (1982)
• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 559 (1965)
• Consolidated Edison Co. of New York v. Public Service Commission · 447 U.S. 530 (1980)
• Reid v. Covert · 354 U.S. 1 (1957)
• Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education · 476 U.S. 267 (1986)
• Railway Express Agency, Inc. v. New York · 336 U.S. 106 (1949)
• Cameron v. Johnson · 390 U.S. 611 (1968)

Cited by

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

• Texas v. Johnson · 491 U.S. 397 (1989)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Ward v. Rock Against Racism · 491 U.S. 781 (1989)
• Hill v. Colorado · 530 U.S. 703 (2000)
• Iancu v. Brunetti · 588 U.S. 388 (2019)
• United States v. Kokinda · 497 U.S. 720 (1990)
• Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of the New York State Crime Victims Board · 502 U.S. 105 (1991)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• City of Chicago v. Morales · 527 U.S. 41 (1999)
• Reed v. Town of Gilbert · 576 U.S. 155 (2015)
• Frisby v. Schultz · 487 U.S. 474 (1988)
• City of Erie v. Pap's A. M. · 529 U.S. 277 (2000)
• Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement · 505 U.S. 123 (1992)
• Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western NY · 519 U.S. 357 (1997)
• United States v. Eichman · 496 U.S. 310 (1990)
• Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman · 581 U.S. 37 (2017)
• Barr v. American Assn. of Political Consultants, Inc. · 591 U.S. 610 (2020)
• United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc. · 529 U.S. 803 (2000)
• Madsen v. Women's Health Center, Inc. · 512 U.S. 753 (1994)
• Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith · 494 U.S. 872 (1990)
• Rust v. Sullivan · 500 U.S. 173 (1991)
• Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union · 521 U.S. 844 (1997)
• Waters v. Churchill · 511 U.S. 661 (1994)
• Snyder v. Phelps · 562 U.S. 443 (2011)
• McConnell v. Federal Election Commission · 540 U.S. 93 (2003)
• City of Ladue v. Gilleo · 512 U.S. 43 (1994)
• Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe · 530 U.S. 290 (2000)
• Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly · 533 U.S. 525 (2001)
• Buckley v. American Constitutional Law Foundation, Inc. · 525 U.S. 182 (1999)
• Stenberg v. Carhart · 530 U.S. 914 (2000)

Official text

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

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). 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).