Stanley v. Illinois

Decided April 3, 1972. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 70-5014 · 405 U.S. 645 (1972) · Cited 5,889 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 5–2.

“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.

• Carrington v. Rash · 380 U.S. 89 (1965)
• Bell v. Burson · 402 U.S. 535 (1971)
• Hill v. California · 401 U.S. 797 (1971)
• Meyer v. Nebraska · 262 U.S. 390 (1923)
• Cafeteria & Restaurant Workers Union, Local 473 v. McElroy · 367 U.S. 886 (1961)
• Skinner v. Oklahoma Ex Rel. Williamson · 316 U.S. 535 (1942)
• Chimel v. California · 395 U.S. 752 (1969)
• Goldberg v. Kelly · 397 U.S. 254 (1970)
• Picard v. Connor · 404 U.S. 270 (1971)
• Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Prince v. Massachusetts · 321 U.S. 158 (1944)
• Reed v. Reed · 404 U.S. 71 (1971)
• Sniadach v. Family Finance Corp. of Bay View · 395 U.S. 337 (1969)
• Kovacs v. Cooper · 336 U.S. 77 (1949)
• Levy v. Louisiana Ex Rel. Charity Hospital · 391 U.S. 68 (1968)
• May v. Anderson · 345 U.S. 528 (1953)
• Morey v. Doud · 354 U.S. 457 (1957)
• Oyama v. California · 332 U.S. 633 (1948)
• Glona v. American Guarantee & Liability Insurance · 391 U.S. 73 (1968)
• State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Duel · 324 U.S. 154 (1945)

Cited by

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

• Michael H. v. Gerald D. · 491 U.S. 110 (1989)
• Weinberger v. Salfi · 422 U.S. 749 (1975)
• Lehr v. Robertson · 463 U.S. 248 (1983)
• Quilloin v. Walcott · 434 U.S. 246 (1978)
• Vlandis v. Kline · 412 U.S. 441 (1973)
• Caban v. Mohammed · 441 U.S. 380 (1979)
• Troxel v. Granville · 530 U.S. 57 (2000)
• Lassiter v. Department of Social Servs. of Durham Cty. · 452 U.S. 18 (1981)
• Craig v. Boren · 429 U.S. 190 (1976)
• Reno v. Flores · 507 U.S. 292 (1993)
• Fiallo Ex Rel. Rodriguez v. Bell · 430 U.S. 787 (1977)
• Califano v. Goldfarb · 430 U.S. 199 (1977)
• United States Department of Agriculture v. Murry · 413 U.S. 508 (1973)
• Santosky v. Kramer · 455 U.S. 745 (1982)
• Moore v. City of East Cleveland · 431 U.S. 494 (1977)
• Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur · 414 U.S. 632 (1974)
• Bowen v. Gilliard · 483 U.S. 587 (1987)
• Hodgson v. Minnesota · 497 U.S. 417 (1990)
• Fuentes v. Shevin · 407 U.S. 67 (1972)
• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey · 505 U.S. 833 (1992)
• Smith v. Organization of Foster Families for Equality & Reform · 431 U.S. 816 (1977)
• MacKey v. Montrym · 443 U.S. 1 (1979)
• Block v. Rutherford · 468 U.S. 576 (1984)
• Parham v. Hughes · 441 U.S. 347 (1979)
• Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth · 408 U.S. 564 (1972)
• City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc. · 473 U.S. 432 (1985)
• Greenholtz v. Inmates of the Nebraska Penal & Correctional Complex · 442 U.S. 1 (1979)
• Usery v. Turner Elkhorn Mining Co. · 428 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri v. Danforth · 428 U.S. 52 (1976)
• H. L. v. Matheson · 450 U.S. 398 (1981)

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).