New York v. P.j. Video, Inc., Dba Network Video, et al.

Decided April 22, 1986. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 85-363 · 475 U.S. 868 (1986) · Cited 198 times

Holding

No "higher" probable-cause standard was required by the First Amendment for issuance of the warrant in question.

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 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.

• Roaden v. Kentucky · 413 U.S. 496 (1973)
• Marcus v. Search Warrant of Property · 367 U.S. 717 (1961)
• Heller v. New York · 413 U.S. 483 (1973)
• Illinois v. Gates · 462 U.S. 213 (1983)
• Stanford v. Texas · 379 U.S. 476 (1965)
• Maryland v. MacOn · 472 U.S. 463 (1985)
• Caldwell v. Mississippi · 472 U.S. 320 (1985)
• Lee Art Theatre, Inc. v. Virginia · 392 U.S. 636 (1968)
• Jones v. United States · 362 U.S. 257 (1960)
• Michigan v. Long · 463 U.S. 1032 (1983)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• California v. Carney · 471 U.S. 386 (1985)
• Brockett v. Spokane Arcades, Inc. · 472 U.S. 491 (1985)
• A Quantity of Copies of Books v. Kansas · 378 U.S. 205 (1964)

Cited by

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

• Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, Administratrix of the Estate of Catrett · 477 U.S. 317 (1986)
• Fort Wayne Books, Inc. v. Indiana · 489 U.S. 46 (1989)
• Harris v. Reed · 489 U.S. 255 (1989)
• Arcara v. Cloud Books, Inc. · 478 U.S. 697 (1986)
• Florida v. Powell · 559 U.S. 50 (2010)
• Montana v. Hall · 481 U.S. 400 (1987)

Official text

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

Explore from here

William Hubbs Rehnquist’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1986). 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).