Pell et al. v. Procunier, Corrections Director, et al.

Decided June 24, 1974. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 73-918 · 417 U.S. 817 (1974) · Cited 2,527 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 5–4.

“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.

• Branzburg v. Hayes · 408 U.S. 665 (1972)
• Procunier v. Martinez · 416 U.S. 396 (1974)
• Grayned v. City of Rockford · 408 U.S. 104 (1972)
• Cruz v. Beto · 405 U.S. 319 (1972)
• Kleindienst v. Mandel · 408 U.S. 753 (1972)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• New York Times Co. v. United States · 403 U.S. 713 (1971)
• Zemel v. Rusk · 381 U.S. 1 (1965)
• Preiser v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 475 (1973)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District · 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
• Garrison v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 64 (1964)
• Stanley v. Georgia · 394 U.S. 557 (1969)
• Near v. Minnesota Ex Rel. Olson · 283 U.S. 697 (1931)
• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 536 (1965)
• Stromberg v. California · 283 U.S. 359 (1931)
• Johnson v. Avery · 393 U.S. 483 (1969)
• Price v. Johnston · 334 U.S. 266 (1948)
• Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan · 372 U.S. 58 (1963)
• Cox v. New Hampshire · 312 U.S. 569 (1941)
• Time, Inc. v. Hill · 385 U.S. 374 (1967)
• Adderley v. Florida · 385 U.S. 39 (1966)
• Healy v. James · 408 U.S. 169 (1972)
• Organization for a Better Austin v. Keefe · 402 U.S. 415 (1971)
• Mills v. Alabama · 384 U.S. 214 (1966)
• Poulos v. New Hampshire · 345 U.S. 395 (1953)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Fruit & Vegetable Packers & Warehousemen, Local 760 · 377 U.S. 58 (1964)
• Elfbrandt v. Russell · 384 U.S. 11 (1966)

Cited by

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

• Houchins v. KQED, Inc. · 438 U.S. 1 (1978)
• Thornburgh v. Abbott · 490 U.S. 401 (1989)
• Turner v. Safley · 482 U.S. 78 (1987)
• Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
• Overton v. Bazzetta · 539 U.S. 126 (2003)
• Greer v. Spock · 424 U.S. 828 (1976)
• Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Labor Union, Inc. · 433 U.S. 119 (1977)
• Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia · 448 U.S. 555 (1980)
• Hudson v. Palmer · 468 U.S. 517 (1984)
• Gannett Co. v. DePasquale · 443 U.S. 368 (1979)
• O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz · 482 U.S. 342 (1987)
• Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., County of Riverside · 478 U.S. 1 (1986)
• Block v. Rutherford · 468 U.S. 576 (1984)
• Shaw v. Murphy · 532 U.S. 223 (2001)
• Johnson v. California · 543 U.S. 499 (2005)
• Christian Legal Soc. Chapter of Univ. of Cal., Hastings College of Law v. Martinez · 561 U.S. 661 (2010)
• Rhodes v. Chapman · 452 U.S. 337 (1981)
• Bounds v. Smith · 430 U.S. 817 (1977)
• Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc. · 435 U.S. 589 (1978)
• Hewitt v. Helms · 459 U.S. 460 (1983)
• Hughes v. Rowe · 449 U.S. 5 (1980)
• Greenholtz v. Inmates of the Nebraska Penal & Correctional Complex · 442 U.S. 1 (1979)
• Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n · 460 U.S. 37 (1983)
• Kentucky Department of Corrections v. Thompson · 490 U.S. 454 (1989)
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• Nebraska Press Assn. v. Stuart · 427 U.S. 539 (1976)
• Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court, County of Norfolk · 457 U.S. 596 (1982)
• First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Bellotti · 435 U.S. 765 (1978)
• Carey v. Brown · 447 U.S. 455 (1980)
• Zurcher v. Stanford Daily · 436 U.S. 547 (1978)

Official text

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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).