New York v. Ferber

Decided July 2, 1982. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 81-55 · 458 U.S. 747 (1982) · Cited 2,505 times

Holding

As applied to respondent and others who distribute similar material, the statute in question does not violate the First Amendment as applied to the States through the Fourteenth 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 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.

• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• United States v. Raines · 362 U.S. 17 (1960)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation · 438 U.S. 726 (1978)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire · 315 U.S. 568 (1942)
• Gooding v. Wilson · 405 U.S. 518 (1972)
• Ginsberg v. New York · 390 U.S. 629 (1968)
• Schad v. Borough of Mount Ephraim · 452 U.S. 61 (1981)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Hamling v. United States · 418 U.S. 87 (1974)
• Prince v. Massachusetts · 321 U.S. 158 (1944)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Dombrowski v. Pfister · 380 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Parker v. Levy · 417 U.S. 733 (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)
• Jacobellis v. Ohio · 378 U.S. 184 (1964)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
• Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville · 422 U.S. 205 (1975)
• Giboney v. Empire Storage & Ice Co. · 336 U.S. 490 (1949)
• Bigelow v. Virginia · 421 U.S. 809 (1975)
• Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations · 413 U.S. 376 (1973)
• Smith v. Daily Mail Publishing Co. · 443 U.S. 97 (1979)
• Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. City of Dallas · 390 U.S. 676 (1968)
• Smith v. United States · 431 U.S. 291 (1977)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)

Cited by

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

• Osborne v. Ohio · 495 U.S. 103 (1990)
• Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition · 535 U.S. 234 (2002)
• United States v. Williams · 553 U.S. 285 (2008)
• United States v. Stevens · 559 U.S. 460 (2010)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Packingham v. North Carolina · 582 U.S. 98 (2017)
• Massachusetts v. Oakes · 491 U.S. 576 (1989)
• United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. · 513 U.S. 64 (1994)
• Secretary of State of Md. v. Joseph H. Munson Co. · 467 U.S. 947 (1984)
• Regan v. Time, Inc. · 468 U.S. 641 (1984)
• Los Angeles Police Department v. United Reporting Publishing Corp. · 528 U.S. 32 (1999)
• Bartnicki v. Vopper · 532 U.S. 514 (2001)
• Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. · 466 U.S. 485 (1984)
• FW/PBS, Inc. v. City of Dallas · 493 U.S. 215 (1990)
• Maryland v. Craig · 497 U.S. 836 (1990)
• City of Chicago v. Morales · 527 U.S. 41 (1999)
• Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party · 552 U.S. 442 (2008)
• Virginia v. Black · 538 U.S. 343 (2003)
• Boos v. Barry · 485 U.S. 312 (1988)
• Brockett v. Spokane Arcades, Inc. · 472 U.S. 491 (1985)
• United States v. Sineneng-Smith · 590 U.S. 371 (2020)
• Hodel v. Irving · 481 U.S. 704 (1987)
• Pope v. Illinois · 481 U.S. 497 (1987)
• Sable Communications of California, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 492 U.S. 115 (1989)
• National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley · 524 U.S. 569 (1998)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• Connick Ex Rel. Parish of Orleans v. Myers · 461 U.S. 138 (1983)
• Members of the City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent · 466 U.S. 789 (1984)
• Roberts v. United States Jaycees · 468 U.S. 609 (1984)
• City of Houston v. Hill · 482 U.S. 451 (1987)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1982). 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).