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

Decided March 31, 1997. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 95-992 · 520 U.S. 180 (1997) · Cited 464 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.

• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• Ward v. Rock Against Racism · 491 U.S. 781 (1989)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• United States v. Albertini · 472 U.S. 675 (1985)
• Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence · 468 U.S. 288 (1984)
• United States v. Midwest Video Corp. · 406 U.S. 649 (1972)
• Board of Trustees of State Univ. of NY v. Fox · 492 U.S. 469 (1989)
• Sable Communications of California, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 492 U.S. 115 (1989)
• Capital Cities Cable, Inc. v. Crisp · 467 U.S. 691 (1984)
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)
• Associated Press v. United States · 326 U.S. 1 (1945)
• Landmark Communications, Inc. v. Virginia · 435 U.S. 829 (1978)
• Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Democratic National Committee · 412 U.S. 94 (1973)
• Federal Communications Commission v. WNCN Listeners Guild · 450 U.S. 582 (1981)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Consolo v. Federal Maritime Commission · 383 U.S. 607 (1966)
• Members of the City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent · 466 U.S. 789 (1984)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Whitney v. California · 274 U.S. 357 (1927)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Claiborne Hardware Co. · 458 U.S. 886 (1982)
• Village of Schaumburg v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 444 U.S. 620 (1980)
• National Broadcasting Co. v. United States · 319 U.S. 190 (1943)
• Edenfield v. Fane · 507 U.S. 761 (1993)
• Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of the New York State Crime Victims Board · 502 U.S. 105 (1991)
• Rostker v. Goldberg · 453 U.S. 57 (1981)
• Walters v. National Assn. of Radiation Survivors · 473 U.S. 305 (1985)
• Regan v. Time, Inc. · 468 U.S. 641 (1984)
• United States v. Southwestern Cable Co. · 392 U.S. 157 (1968)
• American Textile Manufacturers Institute, Inc. v. Donovan · 452 U.S. 490 (1981)
• Federal Communications Commission v. National Citizens Committee for Broadcasting · 436 U.S. 775 (1978)

Cited by

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

• District of Columbia v. Heller · 554 U.S. 570 (2008)
• City of Erie v. Pap's A. M. · 529 U.S. 277 (2000)
• TikTok Inc. v. Garland · 604 U.S. 56 (2025)
• New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen · 597 U.S. 1 (2022)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton · 606 U.S. 461 (2025)
• Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition · 535 U.S. 234 (2002)
• Moody v. NetChoice, LLC · 603 U.S. 707 (2024)
• Federal Election Comm'n v. Ted Cruz · 596 U.S. 289 (2022)
• McDonald v. City of Chicago · 561 U.S. 742 (2010)
• United States v. Morrison · 529 U.S. 598 (2000)
• United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc. · 529 U.S. 803 (2000)
• Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Assn. · 564 U.S. 786 (2011)
• Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC · 528 U.S. 377 (2000)
• Bartnicki v. Vopper · 532 U.S. 514 (2001)
• Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center · 568 U.S. 597 (2013)
• United States v. American Library Assn., Inc. · 539 U.S. 194 (2003)
• 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: 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).