United States, et al. v. American Library Association, Inc., et al.

Decided June 23, 2003. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 02-361 · 539 U.S. 194 (2003) · Cited 205 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

“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.

• Rust v. Sullivan · 500 U.S. 173 (1991)
• National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley · 524 U.S. 569 (1998)
• Legal Services Corp. v. Velazquez · 531 U.S. 533 (2001)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)
• Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union · 521 U.S. 844 (1997)
• Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. · 473 U.S. 788 (1985)
• Board of Ed., Island Trees Union Free School Dist. No. 26 v. Pico · 457 U.S. 853 (1982)
• Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes · 523 U.S. 666 (1998)
• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• South Dakota v. Dole · 483 U.S. 203 (1987)
• Board of Trustees of State Univ. of NY v. Fox · 492 U.S. 469 (1989)
• Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition · 535 U.S. 234 (2002)
• Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth · 529 U.S. 217 (2000)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• Elrod v. Burns · 427 U.S. 347 (1976)
• Harris v. McRae · 448 U.S. 297 (1980)
• Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois · 497 U.S. 62 (1990)
• United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc. · 529 U.S. 803 (2000)
• Regan v. Taxation With Representation of Washington · 461 U.S. 540 (1983)
• Wieman v. Updegraff · 344 U.S. 183 (1952)
• Board of Comm'rs, Wabaunsee Cty. v. Umbehr · 518 U.S. 668 (1996)
• Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Democratic National Committee · 412 U.S. 94 (1973)
• Butler v. Michigan · 352 U.S. 380 (1957)
• Perry v. Sindermann · 408 U.S. 593 (1972)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• Connecticut National Bank v. Germain · 503 U.S. 249 (1992)
• Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n · 460 U.S. 37 (1983)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission · 447 U.S. 557 (1980)
• New York v. Ferber · 458 U.S. 747 (1982)

Cited by

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

• Agency for Int'l Development v. Alliance for Open Society Int'l, Inc. · 570 U.S. 205 (2013)
• Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union · 542 U.S. 656 (2004)
• Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management Dist. · 570 U.S. 595 (2013)
• Matal v. Tam · 582 U.S. 218 (2017)
• Pleasant Grove City v. Summum · 555 U.S. 460 (2009)
• Locke v. Davey · 540 U.S. 712 (2004)
• Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Ass'n · 555 U.S. 353 (2009)
• Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc. · 547 U.S. 47 (2006)
• Shurtleff v. Boston · 596 U.S. 243 (2022)
• Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton · 606 U.S. 461 (2025)

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).