Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of the New York State Crime Victims Board, et al.

Decided December 10, 1991. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 90-1059 · 502 U.S. 105 (1991) · Cited 673 times

Holding

The Son of Sam law is inconsistent with 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 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.

• Arkansas Writers' Project, Inc. v. Ragland · 481 U.S. 221 (1987)
• Ward v. Rock Against Racism · 491 U.S. 781 (1989)
• Leathers v. Medlock · 499 U.S. 439 (1991)
• Carey v. Brown · 447 U.S. 455 (1980)
• Minneapolis Star & Tribune Co. v. Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue · 460 U.S. 575 (1983)
• City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc. · 475 U.S. 41 (1986)
• Texas v. Johnson · 491 U.S. 397 (1989)
• Boos v. Barry · 485 U.S. 312 (1988)
• Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley · 408 U.S. 92 (1972)
• Regan v. Time, Inc. · 468 U.S. 641 (1984)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n · 460 U.S. 37 (1983)
• New York v. Ferber · 458 U.S. 747 (1982)
• Cohen v. California · 403 U.S. 15 (1971)
• Nebraska Press Assn. v. Stuart · 427 U.S. 539 (1976)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• Near v. Minnesota Ex Rel. Olson · 283 U.S. 697 (1931)
• Brandenburg v. Ohio · 395 U.S. 444 (1969)
• New York Times Co. v. United States · 403 U.S. 713 (1971)
• Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell · 485 U.S. 46 (1988)
• Hirabayashi v. United States · 320 U.S. 81 (1943)
• Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. · 472 U.S. 749 (1985)
• Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered v. United States · 491 U.S. 617 (1989)
• Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education · 476 U.S. 267 (1986)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation · 438 U.S. 726 (1978)
• Cohen v. Cowles Media Co. · 501 U.S. 663 (1991)
• Cousins v. Wigoda · 419 U.S. 477 (1975)

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)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Reed v. Town of Gilbert · 576 U.S. 155 (2015)
• Burson v. Freeman · 504 U.S. 191 (1992)
• United States v. National Treasury Employees Union · 513 U.S. 454 (1995)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• United States v. Stevens · 559 U.S. 460 (2010)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• City of Cincinnati v. Discovery Network, Inc. · 507 U.S. 410 (1993)
• City of Ladue v. Gilleo · 512 U.S. 43 (1994)
• Davenport v. Washington Education Ass'n · 551 U.S. 177 (2007)
• Hill v. Colorado · 530 U.S. 703 (2000)
• National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley · 524 U.S. 569 (1998)
• Republican Party of Minnesota v. White · 536 U.S. 765 (2002)
• City of Los Angeles v. Alameda Books, Inc. · 535 U.S. 425 (2002)
• Los Angeles Police Department v. United Reporting Publishing Corp. · 528 U.S. 32 (1999)
• Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council · 505 U.S. 1003 (1992)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
• Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition · 535 U.S. 234 (2002)
• Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement · 505 U.S. 123 (1992)
• Madsen v. Women's Health Center, Inc. · 512 U.S. 753 (1994)
• McConnell v. Federal Election Commission · 540 U.S. 93 (2003)
• United States v. Alvarez · 567 U.S. 709 (2012)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 520 U.S. 180 (1997)
• United States v. Rahimi · 602 U.S. 680 (2024)
• National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra · 585 U.S. 755 (2018)
• 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis · 600 U.S. 570 (2023)
• Vidal v. Elster · 602 U.S. 286 (2024)
• Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton · 606 U.S. 461 (2025)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1991). 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).