National Association for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button, Attorney General of Virginia, et al.

Decided January 14, 1963. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 5 · 371 U.S. 415 (1963) · Cited 3,080 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 6–3.

“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.

• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• Thomas v. Collins · 323 U.S. 516 (1945)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Bates v. City of Little Rock · 361 U.S. 516 (1960)
• Stromberg v. California · 283 U.S. 359 (1931)
• Winters v. New York · 333 U.S. 507 (1948)
• Louisiana Ex Rel. Gremillion v. National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People · 366 U.S. 293 (1961)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Near v. Minnesota Ex Rel. Olson · 283 U.S. 697 (1931)
• Massachusetts v. Mellon · 262 U.S. 447 (1923)
• Smith v. California · 361 U.S. 147 (1959)
• Terminiello v. Chicago · 337 U.S. 1 (1949)
• Konigsberg v. State Bar of Cal. · 366 U.S. 36 (1961)
• Lane v. Wilson · 307 U.S. 268 (1939)
• Herndon v. Lowry · 301 U.S. 242 (1937)
• McCabe v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. · 235 U.S. 151 (1914)
• Yick Wo v. Hopkins · 118 U.S. 356 (1886)
• Connally v. General Construction Co. · 269 U.S. 385 (1926)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. · 348 U.S. 483 (1955)
• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire · 315 U.S. 568 (1942)
• Haguer v. Committee for Industrial Organization · 307 U.S. 496 (1939)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. · 301 U.S. 1 (1937)
• Eastern Railroad Presidents Conference v. Noerr Motor Freight, Inc. · 365 U.S. 127 (1961)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Tenney v. Brandhove · 341 U.S. 367 (1951)
• United Public Workers of America v. Mitchell · 330 U.S. 75 (1947)

Cited by

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

• In Re Primus · 436 U.S. 412 (1978)
• United Mine Workers v. Illinois State Bar Ass'n · 389 U.S. 217 (1967)
• England v. Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners · 375 U.S. 411 (1964)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Virginia Ex Rel. Virginia State Bar · 377 U.S. 1 (1964)
• Branzburg v. Hayes · 408 U.S. 665 (1972)
• First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Bellotti · 435 U.S. 765 (1978)
• Reed v. Town of Gilbert · 576 U.S. 155 (2015)
• United Transportation Union v. State Bar of Michigan · 401 U.S. 576 (1971)
• Aptheker v. Secretary of State · 378 U.S. 500 (1964)
• United States v. Robel · 389 U.S. 258 (1967)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Roberts v. United States Jaycees · 468 U.S. 609 (1984)
• Williams v. Rhodes · 393 U.S. 23 (1968)
• Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Assn. · 436 U.S. 447 (1978)
• Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. · 551 U.S. 449 (2007)
• Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta · 594 U.S. 595 (2021)
• Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Dombrowski v. Pfister · 380 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Keyishian v. Board of Regents of Univ. of State of NY · 385 U.S. 589 (1967)
• Bigelow v. Virginia · 421 U.S. 809 (1975)
• California Bankers Assn. v. Shultz · 416 U.S. 21 (1974)
• Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee · 372 U.S. 539 (1963)
• National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra · 585 U.S. 755 (2018)
• Arnett v. Kennedy · 416 U.S. 134 (1974)
• Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court, County of Norfolk · 457 U.S. 596 (1982)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• Hill v. Colorado · 530 U.S. 703 (2000)
• Gooding v. Wilson · 405 U.S. 518 (1972)

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).