Terminiello v. Chicago

Decided May 16, 1949. William Orville Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 272 · 337 U.S. 1 (1949) · Cited 1,230 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.

• Stromberg v. California · 283 U.S. 359 (1931)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire · 315 U.S. 568 (1942)
• Hepner v. United States · 213 U.S. 103 (1909)
• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette · 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Haguer v. Committee for Industrial Organization · 307 U.S. 496 (1939)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• United Public Workers of America v. Mitchell · 330 U.S. 75 (1947)
• Lovell v. City of Griffin · 303 U.S. 444 (1938)
• Winters v. New York · 333 U.S. 507 (1948)
• Kovacs v. Cooper · 336 U.S. 77 (1949)
• Schenck v. United States · 249 U.S. 47 (1919)
• Gitlow v. New York · 268 U.S. 652 (1925)
• Whitney v. California · 274 U.S. 357 (1927)
• Marsh v. Alabama · 326 U.S. 501 (1946)
• Cox v. New Hampshire · 312 U.S. 569 (1941)
• Douglas v. City of Jeannette · 319 U.S. 157 (1943)
• Bridges v. California · 314 U.S. 252 (1941)
• Martin v. City of Struthers · 319 U.S. 141 (1943)
• De Jonge v. Oregon · 299 U.S. 353 (1937)
• Korematsu v. United States · 323 U.S. 214 (1945)
• Craig v. Harney · 331 U.S. 367 (1947)
• Rescue Army v. Municipal Court of Los Angeles · 331 U.S. 549 (1947)
• Saia v. New York · 334 U.S. 558 (1948)
• Hebert v. Louisiana · 272 U.S. 312 (1926)
• Jamison v. Texas · 318 U.S. 413 (1943)
• Clyatt v. United States · 197 U.S. 207 (1905)
• Musser v. Utah · 333 U.S. 95 (1948)
• Prudential Insurance Co. of America v. Cheek · 259 U.S. 530 (1922)

Cited by

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

• Virginia v. Black · 538 U.S. 343 (2003)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 536 (1965)
• City of Houston v. Hill · 482 U.S. 451 (1987)
• Brown v. Louisiana · 383 U.S. 131 (1966)
• Zant v. Stephens · 462 U.S. 862 (1983)
• Robinson v. California · 370 U.S. 660 (1962)
• Edwards v. South Carolina · 372 U.S. 229 (1963)
• Street v. New York · 394 U.S. 576 (1969)
• Wisconsin v. Mitchell · 508 U.S. 476 (1993)
• Garner v. Louisiana · 368 U.S. 157 (1961)
• Beauharnais v. Illinois · 343 U.S. 250 (1952)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Ziglar v. Abbasi · 582 U.S. 120 (2017)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. · 473 U.S. 788 (1985)
• Eisenstadt v. Baird · 405 U.S. 438 (1972)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
• Dennis v. United States · 341 U.S. 494 (1951)
• American Communications Assn. v. Douds · 339 U.S. 382 (1950)
• Hess v. Indiana · 414 U.S. 105 (1973)
• Ashton v. Kentucky · 384 U.S. 195 (1966)
• Bachellar v. Maryland · 397 U.S. 564 (1970)
• Hemphill v. New York · 595 U.S. 140 (2022)
• Matal v. Tam · 582 U.S. 218 (2017)
• Illinois v. Gates · 462 U.S. 213 (1983)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• Grayned v. City of Rockford · 408 U.S. 104 (1972)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)

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).