Organization for a Better Austin et al. v. Keefe

Decided May 17, 1971. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 135 · 402 U.S. 415 (1971) · Cited 699 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 8–1.

“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.

• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Mills v. Alabama · 384 U.S. 214 (1966)
• Local No. 438 Construction & General Laborers' Union v. Curry · 371 U.S. 542 (1963)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Near v. Minnesota Ex Rel. Olson · 283 U.S. 697 (1931)
• Lovell v. City of Griffin · 303 U.S. 444 (1938)
• Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan · 372 U.S. 58 (1963)
• Martin v. City of Struthers · 319 U.S. 141 (1943)
• Carroll v. President & Commissioners of Princess Anne · 393 U.S. 175 (1968)
• Rowan v. United States Post Office Department · 397 U.S. 728 (1970)
• Pope v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad · 345 U.S. 379 (1953)

Cited by

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

• Nebraska Press Assn. v. Stuart · 427 U.S. 539 (1976)
• Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn · 420 U.S. 469 (1975)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Claiborne Hardware Co. · 458 U.S. 886 (1982)
• Alexander v. United States · 509 U.S. 544 (1993)
• Cohen v. California · 403 U.S. 15 (1971)
• Frisby v. Schultz · 487 U.S. 474 (1988)
• New York Times Co. v. United States · 403 U.S. 713 (1971)
• Smith v. Daily Mail Publishing Co. · 443 U.S. 97 (1979)
• Madsen v. Women's Health Center, Inc. · 512 U.S. 753 (1994)
• Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations · 413 U.S. 376 (1973)
• Houchins v. KQED, Inc. · 438 U.S. 1 (1978)
• Pell v. Procunier · 417 U.S. 817 (1974)
• Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad · 420 U.S. 546 (1975)
• City of Lakewood v. Plain Dealer Publishing Co. · 486 U.S. 750 (1988)
• Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. v. Florida Gulf Coast Building & Construction Trades Council · 485 U.S. 568 (1988)
• Bolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp. · 463 U.S. 60 (1983)
• Riley v. National Federation of Blind of North Carolina, Inc. · 487 U.S. 781 (1988)
• International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. v. Lee · 505 U.S. 672 (1992)
• Healy v. James · 408 U.S. 169 (1972)
• Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo · 418 U.S. 241 (1974)
• Heller v. New York · 413 U.S. 483 (1973)
• Board of School Comm'rs of Indianapolis v. Jacobs · 420 U.S. 128 (1975)
• Brown v. Glines · 444 U.S. 348 (1980)
• Vance v. Universal Amusement Co. · 445 U.S. 308 (1980)

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).