Osborne v. Ohio

Decided April 18, 1990. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 88-5986 · 495 U.S. 103 (1990) · Cited 897 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.

• New York v. Ferber · 458 U.S. 747 (1982)
• Stanley v. Georgia · 394 U.S. 557 (1969)
• Massachusetts v. Oakes · 491 U.S. 576 (1989)
• Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham · 382 U.S. 87 (1965)
• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Hamling v. United States · 418 U.S. 87 (1974)
• Pope v. Illinois · 481 U.S. 497 (1987)
• Bouie v. City of Columbia · 378 U.S. 347 (1964)
• United States v. 12 200-Ft. Reels of Super 8MM. Film · 413 U.S. 123 (1973)
• Douglas v. Alabama · 380 U.S. 415 (1965)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
• Rabe v. Washington · 405 U.S. 313 (1972)
• In Re WINSHIP · 397 U.S. 358 (1970)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• Kolender v. Lawson · 461 U.S. 352 (1983)
• Dombrowski v. Pfister · 380 U.S. 479 (1965)
• FW/PBS, Inc. v. City of Dallas · 493 U.S. 215 (1990)
• Papachristou v. City of Jacksonville · 405 U.S. 156 (1972)
• City of Houston v. Hill · 482 U.S. 451 (1987)
• A Book Named \John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure\" v. Attorney General of Massachusetts" · 383 U.S. 413 (1966)
• Sable Communications of California, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 492 U.S. 115 (1989)
• Smith v. United States · 431 U.S. 291 (1977)
• Jackson v. Virginia · 443 U.S. 307 (1979)
• Rose v. Clark · 478 U.S. 570 (1986)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Marks v. United States · 430 U.S. 188 (1977)
• Francis v. Franklin · 471 U.S. 307 (1985)
• Screws v. United States · 325 U.S. 91 (1945)

Cited by

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

• Lee v. Kemna · 534 U.S. 362 (2002)
• United States v. Williams · 553 U.S. 285 (2008)
• Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition · 535 U.S. 234 (2002)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Bartnicki v. Vopper · 532 U.S. 514 (2001)
• Maryland v. Craig · 497 U.S. 836 (1990)
• United States v. Stevens · 559 U.S. 460 (2010)
• Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union · 521 U.S. 844 (1997)
• Virginia v. Black · 538 U.S. 343 (2003)
• United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. · 513 U.S. 64 (1994)
• Jacobson v. United States · 503 U.S. 540 (1992)
• Counterman v. Colorado · 600 U.S. 66 (2023)

Official text

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

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Byron Raymond White’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).