Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., et al. v. Federal Communications Commission et al.

Decided June 27, 1994. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 93-44 · 512 U.S. 622 (1994) · Cited 1,695 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.

• Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo · 418 U.S. 241 (1974)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• Arkansas Writers' Project, Inc. v. Ragland · 481 U.S. 221 (1987)
• Leathers v. Medlock · 499 U.S. 439 (1991)
• Minneapolis Star & Tribune Co. v. Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue · 460 U.S. 575 (1983)
• Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Utilities Commission · 475 U.S. 1 (1986)
• Ward v. Rock Against Racism · 491 U.S. 781 (1989)
• Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of the New York State Crime Victims Board · 502 U.S. 105 (1991)
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)
• Federal Communications Commission v. League of Women Voters of California · 468 U.S. 364 (1984)
• Carey v. Brown · 447 U.S. 455 (1980)
• Associated Press v. United States · 326 U.S. 1 (1945)
• Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Democratic National Committee · 412 U.S. 94 (1973)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Boos v. Barry · 485 U.S. 312 (1988)
• National Broadcasting Co. v. United States · 319 U.S. 190 (1943)
• Capital Cities Cable, Inc. v. Crisp · 467 U.S. 691 (1984)
• City of Los Angeles v. Preferred Communications, Inc. · 476 U.S. 488 (1986)
• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette · 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
• Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence · 468 U.S. 288 (1984)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
• Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley · 408 U.S. 92 (1972)
• Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego · 453 U.S. 490 (1981)
• PruneYard Shopping Center v. Robins · 447 U.S. 74 (1980)
• Grosjean v. American Press Co. · 297 U.S. 233 (1936)
• Riley v. National Federation of Blind of North Carolina, Inc. · 487 U.S. 781 (1988)
• Edenfield v. Fane · 507 U.S. 761 (1993)
• Sable Communications of California, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 492 U.S. 115 (1989)
• Landmark Communications, Inc. v. Virginia · 435 U.S. 829 (1978)

Cited by

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

• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 520 U.S. 180 (1997)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck · 587 U.S. 802 (2019)
• Moody v. NetChoice, LLC · 603 U.S. 707 (2024)
• Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston, Inc. · 515 U.S. 557 (1995)
• Bartnicki v. Vopper · 532 U.S. 514 (2001)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Agency for Int'l Development v. Alliance for Open Society Int'l, Inc. · 570 U.S. 205 (2013)
• Reed v. Town of Gilbert · 576 U.S. 155 (2015)
• National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra · 585 U.S. 755 (2018)
• Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton · 606 U.S. 461 (2025)
• United States v. Alvarez · 567 U.S. 709 (2012)
• City of Los Angeles v. Alameda Books, Inc. · 535 U.S. 425 (2002)
• McConnell v. Federal Election Commission · 540 U.S. 93 (2003)
• United States v. National Treasury Employees Union · 513 U.S. 454 (1995)
• Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Assn. · 564 U.S. 786 (2011)
• Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes · 523 U.S. 666 (1998)
• Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. Federal Election Commission · 518 U.S. 604 (1996)
• Eldred v. Ashcroft · 537 U.S. 186 (2003)
• Glickman v. Wileman Brothers & Elliott, Inc. · 521 U.S. 457 (1997)
• TikTok Inc. v. Garland · 604 U.S. 56 (2025)
• United States v. Lopez · 514 U.S. 549 (1995)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. · 556 U.S. 502 (2009)
• Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union · 521 U.S. 844 (1997)
• City of Erie v. Pap's A. M. · 529 U.S. 277 (2000)
• Gonzales v. Raich · 545 U.S. 1 (2005)
• Pegram v. Herdrich · 530 U.S. 211 (2000)
• McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission · 514 U.S. 334 (1995)
• United States v. Virginia · 518 U.S. 515 (1996)

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).