The Florida Star v. B. J. F.

Decided June 21, 1989. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-329 · 491 U.S. 524 (1989) · Cited 500 times

Holding

Imposing damages on the Star for publishing B.J.F.'s name violates the First Amendment.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

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.

• Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn · 420 U.S. 469 (1975)
• Smith v. Daily Mail Publishing Co. · 443 U.S. 97 (1979)
• Landmark Communications, Inc. v. Virginia · 435 U.S. 829 (1978)
• Oklahoma Publishing Co. v. District Court in & for Oklahoma County · 430 U.S. 308 (1977)
• Garrison v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 64 (1964)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• United States Department of Justice v. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press · 489 U.S. 749 (1989)
• Time, Inc. v. Hill · 385 U.S. 374 (1967)
• New York Times Co. v. United States · 403 U.S. 713 (1971)
• Minneapolis Star & Tribune Co. v. Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue · 460 U.S. 575 (1983)
• Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. · 477 U.S. 242 (1986)
• Katz v. United States · 389 U.S. 347 (1967)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• Nebraska Press Assn. v. Stuart · 427 U.S. 539 (1976)
• Near v. Minnesota Ex Rel. Olson · 283 U.S. 697 (1931)
• Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court, County of Norfolk · 457 U.S. 596 (1982)
• Coker v. Georgia · 433 U.S. 584 (1977)
• Rosenblatt v. Baer · 383 U.S. 75 (1966)
• Herbert v. Lando · 441 U.S. 153 (1979)
• Bates v. State Bar of Arizona · 433 U.S. 350 (1977)
• Rosenbloom v. Metromedia, Inc. · 403 U.S. 29 (1971)
• Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. · 472 U.S. 749 (1985)
• Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. v. Hepps · 475 U.S. 767 (1986)
• Greenbelt Cooperative Publishing Assn., Inc. v. Bresler · 398 U.S. 6 (1970)
• Hutchinson v. Proxmire · 443 U.S. 111 (1979)
• Monitor Patriot Co. v. Roy · 401 U.S. 265 (1971)
• Arkansas Writers' Project, Inc. v. Ragland · 481 U.S. 221 (1987)
• Time, Inc. v. Pape · 401 U.S. 279 (1971)
• Henry v. Collins · 380 U.S. 356 (1965)

Cited by

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

• Bartnicki v. Vopper · 532 U.S. 514 (2001)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Cohen v. Cowles Media Co. · 501 U.S. 663 (1991)
• Snyder v. Phelps · 562 U.S. 443 (2011)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Superior Court Trial Lawyers Ass'n · 493 U.S. 411 (1990)
• Butterworth v. Smith · 494 U.S. 624 (1990)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
• Osborne v. Ohio · 495 U.S. 103 (1990)
• Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União Do Vegetal · 546 U.S. 418 (2006)
• Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Assn. · 564 U.S. 786 (2011)
• Republican Party of Minnesota v. White · 536 U.S. 765 (2002)
• Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce · 494 U.S. 652 (1990)
• Ohio v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health · 497 U.S. 502 (1990)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• Glickman v. Wileman Brothers & Elliott, Inc. · 521 U.S. 457 (1997)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). 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).