Saxbe, Attorney General, et al. v. Washington Post Co. et al.

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

Docket 73-1265 · 417 U.S. 843 (1974) · Cited 270 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)
• Zemel v. Rusk · 381 U.S. 1 (1965)
• Procunier v. Martinez · 416 U.S. 396 (1974)
• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District · 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)
• Kleindienst v. Mandel · 408 U.S. 753 (1972)
• Adderley v. Florida · 385 U.S. 39 (1966)
• Martin v. City of Struthers · 319 U.S. 141 (1943)
• Healy v. James · 408 U.S. 169 (1972)
• Mills v. Alabama · 384 U.S. 214 (1966)
• Lamont v. Postmaster General · 381 U.S. 301 (1965)

Cited by

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

• Houchins v. KQED, Inc. · 438 U.S. 1 (1978)
• Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia · 448 U.S. 555 (1980)
• Gannett Co. v. DePasquale · 443 U.S. 368 (1979)
• Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., County of Riverside · 478 U.S. 1 (1986)
• Herbert v. Lando · 441 U.S. 153 (1979)
• Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., Riverside Cty. · 464 U.S. 501 (1984)
• Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Labor Union, Inc. · 433 U.S. 119 (1977)
• First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Bellotti · 435 U.S. 765 (1978)
• Hudson v. Palmer · 468 U.S. 517 (1984)
• Connick Ex Rel. Parish of Orleans v. Myers · 461 U.S. 138 (1983)
• Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc. · 435 U.S. 589 (1978)
• Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court, County of Norfolk · 457 U.S. 596 (1982)
• Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. · 472 U.S. 749 (1985)
• Landmark Communications, Inc. v. Virginia · 435 U.S. 829 (1978)
• Board of Ed., Island Trees Union Free School Dist. No. 26 v. Pico · 457 U.S. 853 (1982)
• Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Utilities Commission · 475 U.S. 1 (1986)

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).