Police Department of the City of Chicago et al. v. Mosley

Decided June 26, 1972. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 70-87 · 408 U.S. 92 (1972) · Cited 1,516 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 9–0.

“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.

• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 536 (1965)
• Niemotko v. Maryland · 340 U.S. 268 (1951)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District · 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Dunn v. Blumstein · 405 U.S. 330 (1972)
• Reed v. Reed · 404 U.S. 71 (1971)
• Williams v. Rhodes · 393 U.S. 23 (1968)
• Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham · 394 U.S. 147 (1969)
• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 559 (1965)
• Adderley v. Florida · 385 U.S. 39 (1966)
• De Jonge v. Oregon · 299 U.S. 353 (1937)
• Amalgamated Food Employees Union Local 590 v. Logan Valley Plaza, Inc. · 391 U.S. 308 (1968)
• Saia v. New York · 334 U.S. 558 (1948)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire · 315 U.S. 568 (1942)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Cohen v. California · 403 U.S. 15 (1971)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Terminiello v. Chicago · 337 U.S. 1 (1949)
• Cox v. New Hampshire · 312 U.S. 569 (1941)
• Edwards v. South Carolina · 372 U.S. 229 (1963)
• Weber v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. · 406 U.S. 164 (1972)
• Street v. New York · 394 U.S. 576 (1969)
• Police Department of Chicago v. Mosley · 408 U.S. 92 (1972)
• Wood v. Georgia · 370 U.S. 375 (1962)
• Staub v. City of Baxley · 355 U.S. 313 (1958)

Cited by

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

• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Reed v. Town of Gilbert · 576 U.S. 155 (2015)
• Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Democratic National Committee · 412 U.S. 94 (1973)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Hill v. Colorado · 530 U.S. 703 (2000)
• Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville · 422 U.S. 205 (1975)
• Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego · 453 U.S. 490 (1981)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• Arkansas Writers' Project, Inc. v. Ragland · 481 U.S. 221 (1987)
• City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc. · 475 U.S. 41 (1986)
• Hudgens v. National Labor Relations Board · 424 U.S. 507 (1976)
• Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of the New York State Crime Victims Board · 502 U.S. 105 (1991)
• City of Ladue v. Gilleo · 512 U.S. 43 (1994)
• Wood v. Moss · 572 U.S. 744 (2014)
• Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck · 587 U.S. 802 (2019)
• Attorney General of New York v. Soto-Lopez · 476 U.S. 898 (1986)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• Widmar v. Vincent · 454 U.S. 263 (1981)
• Abood v. Detroit Board of Education · 431 U.S. 209 (1977)
• Bray v. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic · 506 U.S. 263 (1993)
• Burson v. Freeman · 504 U.S. 191 (1992)
• Greer v. Spock · 424 U.S. 828 (1976)
• United States v. Kokinda · 497 U.S. 720 (1990)
• Minnesota State Board for Community Colleges v. Knight · 465 U.S. 271 (1984)
• Posadas De Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Co. of Puerto Rico · 478 U.S. 328 (1986)
• City of Madison Joint School District No. 8 v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission · 429 U.S. 167 (1976)
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• Roberts v. United States Jaycees · 468 U.S. 609 (1984)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)

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).