Togo D. West, Jr., Secretary of Veterans Affairs v. Michael Gibson

Decided June 14, 1999. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 98-238 · 527 U.S. 212 (1999) · Cited 146 times

Holding

Section 1304 may not be applied to advertisements of lawful private casino gambling that are broadcast by petitioners’ radio or television stations located in Louisiana, where such gambling is legal.

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 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.

• Lane v. Pena · 518 U.S. 187 (1996)
• Department of the Army v. Blue Fox, Inc. · 525 U.S. 255 (1999)
• United States v. Nordic Village, Inc. · 503 U.S. 30 (1992)
• Lehman v. Nakshian · 453 U.S. 156 (1981)
• New York Gaslight Club, Inc. v. Carey · 447 U.S. 54 (1980)
• Brown v. General Services Administration · 425 U.S. 820 (1976)
• Phelps Dodge Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board · 313 U.S. 177 (1941)
• United States v. Burke · 504 U.S. 229 (1992)
• Soriano v. United States · 352 U.S. 270 (1957)
• Great Northern Life Insurance Co. v. Read · 322 U.S. 47 (1944)
• United States v. Southwestern Cable Co. · 392 U.S. 157 (1968)
• McElrath v. United States · 102 U.S. 426 (1880)
• Fortnightly Corp. v. United Artists Television, Inc. · 392 U.S. 390 (1968)
• Browder v. United States · 312 U.S. 335 (1941)
• Roberts v. Galen of Virginia, Inc. · 525 U.S. 249 (1999)

Cited by

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

• BP America Production Co. Ex Rel. Amoco Production Co. v. Burton · 549 U.S. 84 (2006)
• Jam v. International Finance Corp. · 586 U.S. 199 (2019)
• New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira · 586 U.S. 105 (2019)
• Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. White · 548 U.S. 53 (2006)
• Lilly v. Virginia · 527 U.S. 116 (1999)

Official text

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

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Stephen Gerald Breyer’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1999). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).