Pioneer Investment Services Company v. Brunswick Associates Limited Partnership et al.

Decided March 24, 1993. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 91-1695 · 507 U.S. 380 (1993) · Cited 5,239 times

Holding

The city’s selective and categorical ban on the distribution, via newsrack, of “commercial handbills” is not consistent with the dictates of the First 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 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.

• Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation · 497 U.S. 871 (1990)
• Klapprott v. United States · 335 U.S. 601 (1949)
• Link v. Wabash Railroad · 370 U.S. 626 (1962)
• United States v. Boyle · 469 U.S. 241 (1985)
• Liljeberg v. Health Services Acquisition Corp. · 486 U.S. 847 (1988)
• United States v. Whiting Pools, Inc. · 462 U.S. 198 (1983)
• Ackermann v. United States · 340 U.S. 193 (1950)
• Perrin v. United States · 444 U.S. 37 (1979)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Bildisco & Bildisco · 465 U.S. 513 (1984)
• Goodman v. Lukens Steel Co. · 482 U.S. 656 (1987)
• Smith v. Ayer · 101 U.S. 320 (1880)
• Pyramid Motor Freight Corp. v. Ispass · 330 U.S. 695 (1947)

Cited by

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

• Buckhannon Board & Care Home, Inc. v. West Virginia Dept. of Health and Human Resources · 532 U.S. 598 (2001)
• BLOM Bank SAL v. Honickman · 605 U.S. 204 (2025)
• National Railroad Passenger Corporation v. Morgan · 536 U.S. 101 (2002)
• Williams v. Taylor · 529 U.S. 420 (2000)
• Walters v. Metropolitan Educational Enterprises, Inc. · 519 U.S. 202 (1997)
• Lawrence Ex Rel. Lawrence v. Chater · 516 U.S. 163 (1996)
• Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P. · 603 U.S. 204 (2024)

Official text

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

Explore from here

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

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1993). 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).