Smith, Sheriff v. Goguen

Decided March 25, 1974. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 72-1254 · 415 U.S. 566 (1974) · Cited 1,514 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 6–3.

“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.

• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• Street v. New York · 394 U.S. 576 (1969)
• Picard v. Connor · 404 U.S. 270 (1971)
• Grayned v. City of Rockford · 408 U.S. 104 (1972)
• Lanzetta v. New Jersey · 306 U.S. 451 (1939)
• United States v. National Dairy Products Corp. · 372 U.S. 29 (1963)
• Connally v. General Construction Co. · 269 U.S. 385 (1926)
• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette · 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
• Papachristou v. City of Jacksonville · 405 U.S. 156 (1972)
• United States v. Thirty-Seven (37) Photographs · 402 U.S. 363 (1971)
• Halter v. Nebraska · 205 U.S. 34 (1907)
• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District · 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
• Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. · 272 U.S. 365 (1926)
• Haguer v. Committee for Industrial Organization · 307 U.S. 496 (1939)
• Screws v. United States · 325 U.S. 91 (1945)
• Stromberg v. California · 283 U.S. 359 (1931)
• Coates v. City of Cincinnati · 402 U.S. 611 (1971)
• Smith v. California · 361 U.S. 147 (1959)
• Colten v. Kentucky · 407 U.S. 104 (1972)
• Moose Lodge No. 107 v. Irvis · 407 U.S. 163 (1972)
• Katzenbach v. Morgan · 384 U.S. 641 (1966)
• United States v. REESE · 92 U.S. 214 (1876)
• Gregory v. City of Chicago · 394 U.S. 111 (1969)
• Schacht v. United States · 398 U.S. 58 (1970)
• Ashton v. Kentucky · 384 U.S. 195 (1966)
• Packer Corp. v. Utah · 285 U.S. 105 (1932)

Cited by

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

• Texas v. Johnson · 491 U.S. 397 (1989)
• Kolender v. Lawson · 461 U.S. 352 (1983)
• Parker v. Levy · 417 U.S. 733 (1974)
• City of Chicago v. Morales · 527 U.S. 41 (1999)
• City of Houston v. Hill · 482 U.S. 451 (1987)
• Welch v. United States · 578 U.S. 120 (2016)
• Spence v. Washington · 418 U.S. 405 (1974)
• Gonzales v. Carhart · 550 U.S. 124 (2007)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Hoffman Estates v. Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc. · 455 U.S. 489 (1982)
• Sessions v. Dimaya · 584 U.S. 148 (2018)
• Gentile v. State Bar of Nev. · 501 U.S. 1030 (1991)
• Oliver v. United States · 466 U.S. 170 (1984)
• Marks v. United States · 430 U.S. 188 (1977)
• City of Mesquite v. Aladdin's Castle, Inc. · 455 U.S. 283 (1982)
• Secretary of State of Md. v. Joseph H. Munson Co. · 467 U.S. 947 (1984)
• Colautti v. Franklin · 439 U.S. 379 (1979)
• Osborne v. Ohio · 495 U.S. 103 (1990)
• United States v. Kokinda · 497 U.S. 720 (1990)
• Pope v. Illinois · 481 U.S. 497 (1987)
• Rose v. Locke · 423 U.S. 48 (1975)
• Hynes v. Mayor and Council of Oradell · 425 U.S. 610 (1976)
• Marinello v. United States · 584 U.S. 1 (2018)

Official text

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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).