Smith v. United States

Decided May 23, 1977. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 75-1439 · 431 U.S. 291 (1977) · Cited 285 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.

• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Hamling v. United States · 418 U.S. 87 (1974)
• Jacobellis v. Ohio · 378 U.S. 184 (1964)
• Stanley v. Georgia · 394 U.S. 557 (1969)
• United States v. Reidel · 402 U.S. 351 (1971)
• Manual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day · 370 U.S. 478 (1962)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
• United States v. 12 200-Ft. Reels of Super 8MM. Film · 413 U.S. 123 (1973)
• Jenkins v. Georgia · 418 U.S. 153 (1974)
• United States v. Orito · 413 U.S. 139 (1973)
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• Marks v. United States · 430 U.S. 188 (1977)
• Cohen v. California · 403 U.S. 15 (1971)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. · 272 U.S. 365 (1926)
• Winters v. New York · 333 U.S. 507 (1948)
• Dennis v. United States · 341 U.S. 494 (1951)
• Kovacs v. Cooper · 336 U.S. 77 (1949)
• Schenck v. United States · 249 U.S. 47 (1919)
• Clearfield Trust Co. v. United States · 318 U.S. 363 (1943)
• Kleindienst v. Mandel · 408 U.S. 753 (1972)
• Bridges v. California · 314 U.S. 252 (1941)
• Lehman v. City of Shaker Heights · 418 U.S. 298 (1974)
• Abrams v. United States · 250 U.S. 616 (1919)
• Ex Parte Jackson · 96 U.S. 727 (1878)
• Ginzburg v. United States · 383 U.S. 463 (1966)
• Pennekamp v. Florida · 328 U.S. 331 (1946)
• United States v. Standard Oil Co. Of California · 332 U.S. 301 (1947)
• Saia v. New York · 334 U.S. 558 (1948)

Cited by

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

• Pope v. Illinois · 481 U.S. 497 (1987)
• Fort Wayne Books, Inc. v. Indiana · 489 U.S. 46 (1989)
• New York v. Ferber · 458 U.S. 747 (1982)
• Osborne v. Ohio · 495 U.S. 103 (1990)
• Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission · 447 U.S. 557 (1980)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Alexander v. United States · 509 U.S. 544 (1993)
• Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union · 542 U.S. 656 (2004)
• Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union · 535 U.S. 564 (2002)
• Burch v. Louisiana · 441 U.S. 130 (1979)

Official text

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

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Harry Andrew Blackmun’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).