Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham

Decided March 10, 1969. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 42 · 394 U.S. 147 (1969) · Cited 1,269 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 8–0.

“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.

• Walker v. City of Birmingham · 388 U.S. 307 (1967)
• Freedman v. Maryland · 380 U.S. 51 (1965)
• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 536 (1965)
• Cox v. New Hampshire · 312 U.S. 569 (1941)
• Staub v. City of Baxley · 355 U.S. 313 (1958)
• Haguer v. Committee for Industrial Organization · 307 U.S. 496 (1939)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Lovell v. City of Griffin · 303 U.S. 444 (1938)
• Poulos v. New Hampshire · 345 U.S. 395 (1953)
• Jones v. Opelika · 316 U.S. 584 (1942)
• Largent v. Texas · 318 U.S. 418 (1943)
• Niemotko v. Maryland · 340 U.S. 268 (1951)
• Kunz v. New York · 340 U.S. 290 (1951)
• Saia v. New York · 334 U.S. 558 (1948)
• Jones v. Opelika · 319 U.S. 103 (1943)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Williams v. Rhodes · 393 U.S. 23 (1968)
• Stromberg v. California · 283 U.S. 359 (1931)
• Marsh v. Alabama · 326 U.S. 501 (1946)
• Edwards v. South Carolina · 372 U.S. 229 (1963)
• Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson · 343 U.S. 495 (1952)
• Carroll v. President & Commissioners of Princess Anne · 393 U.S. 175 (1968)
• Garner v. Louisiana · 368 U.S. 157 (1961)
• Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. City of Dallas · 390 U.S. 676 (1968)
• Butler v. Eaton · 141 U.S. 240 (1891)
• National Fire Ins. Co. of Hartford v. Thompson · 281 U.S. 331 (1930)
• Superior Films, Inc. v. Department of Ed. of Ohio · 346 U.S. 587 (1954)

Cited by

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

• City of Lakewood v. Plain Dealer Publishing Co. · 486 U.S. 750 (1988)
• FW/PBS, Inc. v. City of Dallas · 493 U.S. 215 (1990)
• Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad · 420 U.S. 546 (1975)
• Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes · 523 U.S. 666 (1998)
• Grayned v. City of Rockford · 408 U.S. 104 (1972)
• Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego · 453 U.S. 490 (1981)
• Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley · 408 U.S. 92 (1972)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier · 484 U.S. 260 (1988)
• Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement · 505 U.S. 123 (1992)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• Ward v. Rock Against Racism · 491 U.S. 781 (1989)
• New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen · 597 U.S. 1 (2022)
• Members of the City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent · 466 U.S. 789 (1984)
• Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia · 448 U.S. 555 (1980)
• Moore v. City of East Cleveland · 431 U.S. 494 (1977)
• Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence · 468 U.S. 288 (1984)
• City of Houston v. Hill · 482 U.S. 451 (1987)
• Nixon v. Administrator of General Services · 433 U.S. 425 (1977)
• Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. · 452 U.S. 640 (1981)
• Carey v. Brown · 447 U.S. 455 (1980)
• Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston, Inc. · 515 U.S. 557 (1995)
• Schall v. Martin · 467 U.S. 253 (1984)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation · 438 U.S. 726 (1978)
• United States v. Albertini · 472 U.S. 675 (1985)
• Lehman v. City of Shaker Heights · 418 U.S. 298 (1974)
• United States v. Kokinda · 497 U.S. 720 (1990)
• California Bankers Assn. v. Shultz · 416 U.S. 21 (1974)
• Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Democratic National Committee · 412 U.S. 94 (1973)
• San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. United States Olympic Committee · 483 U.S. 522 (1987)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Potter Stewart’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).