Stanley v. Georgia

Decided April 7, 1969. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 293 · 394 U.S. 557 (1969) · Cited 1,725 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 9–0.

“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.

• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Mapp v. Ohio · 367 U.S. 643 (1961)
• Smith v. California · 361 U.S. 147 (1959)
• Jacobellis v. Ohio · 378 U.S. 184 (1964)
• Ginsberg v. New York · 390 U.S. 629 (1968)
• Redrup v. New York · 386 U.S. 767 (1967)
• United States v. Chase · 135 U.S. 255 (1890)
• Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
• United States v. Rabinowitz · 339 U.S. 56 (1950)
• Winters v. New York · 333 U.S. 507 (1948)
• A Book Named \John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure\" v. Attorney General of Massachusetts" · 383 U.S. 413 (1966)
• Ginzburg v. United States · 383 U.S. 463 (1966)
• Warden, Maryland Penitentiary v. Hayden · 387 U.S. 294 (1967)
• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire · 315 U.S. 568 (1942)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Olmstead v. United States · 277 U.S. 438 (1928)
• Near v. Minnesota Ex Rel. Olson · 283 U.S. 697 (1931)
• Freedman v. Maryland · 380 U.S. 51 (1965)
• Marron v. United States · 275 U.S. 192 (1927)
• Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan · 372 U.S. 58 (1963)
• Whitney v. California · 274 U.S. 357 (1927)
• Stanford v. Texas · 379 U.S. 476 (1965)
• Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson · 343 U.S. 495 (1952)
• Martin v. City of Struthers · 319 U.S. 141 (1943)
• Marcus v. Search Warrant of Property · 367 U.S. 717 (1961)
• Byars v. United States · 273 U.S. 28 (1927)
• Ex Parte Jackson · 96 U.S. 727 (1878)
• A Quantity of Copies of Books v. Kansas · 378 U.S. 205 (1964)
• Beauharnais v. Illinois · 343 U.S. 250 (1952)
• Mishkin v. New York · 383 U.S. 502 (1966)

Cited by

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

• Osborne v. Ohio · 495 U.S. 103 (1990)
• United States v. Reidel · 402 U.S. 351 (1971)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
• Bowers v. Hardwick · 478 U.S. 186 (1986)
• United States v. Thirty-Seven (37) Photographs · 402 U.S. 363 (1971)
• United States v. 12 200-Ft. Reels of Super 8MM. Film · 413 U.S. 123 (1973)
• United States v. Orito · 413 U.S. 139 (1973)
• California v. LaRue · 409 U.S. 109 (1972)
• Jacobson v. United States · 503 U.S. 540 (1992)
• Pope v. Illinois · 481 U.S. 497 (1987)
• Whalen v. Roe · 429 U.S. 589 (1977)
• Board of Ed., Island Trees Union Free School Dist. No. 26 v. Pico · 457 U.S. 853 (1982)
• PruneYard Shopping Center v. Robins · 447 U.S. 74 (1980)
• Smith v. United States · 431 U.S. 291 (1977)
• Coolidge v. New Hampshire · 403 U.S. 443 (1971)
• United States v. Williams · 553 U.S. 285 (2008)
• Arizona v. Hicks · 480 U.S. 321 (1987)
• Walter v. United States · 447 U.S. 649 (1980)
• Packingham v. North Carolina · 582 U.S. 98 (2017)
• McDonald v. City of Chicago · 561 U.S. 742 (2010)
• Eisenstadt v. Baird · 405 U.S. 438 (1972)
• Kleindienst v. Mandel · 408 U.S. 753 (1972)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation · 438 U.S. 726 (1978)
• Houchins v. KQED, Inc. · 438 U.S. 1 (1978)
• Fort Wayne Books, Inc. v. Indiana · 489 U.S. 46 (1989)
• Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics · 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
• Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
• United States v. Leon · 468 U.S. 897 (1984)
• Roe v. Wade · 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)

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).