Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. et al.

Decided June 21, 1990. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 89-645 · 497 U.S. 1 (1990) · Cited 1,770 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 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.

• Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. v. Hepps · 475 U.S. 767 (1986)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell · 485 U.S. 46 (1988)
• Greenbelt Cooperative Publishing Assn., Inc. v. Bresler · 398 U.S. 6 (1970)
• Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. · 466 U.S. 485 (1984)
• Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts · 388 U.S. 130 (1967)
• Michigan v. Long · 463 U.S. 1032 (1983)
• Old Dominion Branch No. 496 v. Austin · 418 U.S. 264 (1974)
• Towne v. Eisner · 245 U.S. 418 (1918)
• Rosenblatt v. Baer · 383 U.S. 75 (1966)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Stromberg v. California · 283 U.S. 359 (1931)
• Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton · 491 U.S. 657 (1989)
• Rosenbloom v. Metromedia, Inc. · 403 U.S. 29 (1971)
• Abrams v. United States · 250 U.S. 616 (1919)
• Monitor Patriot Co. v. Roy · 401 U.S. 265 (1971)
• Baumgartner v. United States · 322 U.S. 665 (1944)

Cited by

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

• Masson v. New Yorker Magazine, Inc. · 501 U.S. 496 (1991)
• TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez · 594 U.S. 413 (2021)
• United States v. Alvarez · 567 U.S. 709 (2012)
• Spencer v. Kemna · 523 U.S. 1 (1998)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Snyder v. Phelps · 562 U.S. 443 (2011)
• Virginia Bankshares, Inc. v. Sandberg · 501 U.S. 1083 (1991)

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).