United States, Petitioner v. Xavier Alvarez

Decided June 28, 2012. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 11-210 · 567 U.S. 709 (2012) · Cited 536 times

Holding

The judgment is affirmed.

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

“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.

• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell · 485 U.S. 46 (1988)
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• United States v. Stevens · 559 U.S. 460 (2010)
• Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Assn. · 564 U.S. 786 (2011)
• United States v. Wells · 519 U.S. 482 (1997)
• Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union · 542 U.S. 656 (2004)
• Garrison v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 64 (1964)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. United States Olympic Committee · 483 U.S. 522 (1987)
• BE&K Construction Co. v. National Labor Relations Board · 536 U.S. 516 (2002)
• Brown v. Hartlage · 456 U.S. 45 (1982)
• Illinois Ex Rel. Madigan, Attorney General of Illinois v. Telemarketing Associates, Inc. · 538 U.S. 600 (2003)
• Pickering v. Board of Ed. of Township High School Dist. 205, Will Cty. · 391 U.S. 563 (1968)
• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire · 315 U.S. 568 (1942)
• United States v. Dunnigan · 507 U.S. 87 (1993)
• Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. · 497 U.S. 1 (1990)
• United States v. Williams · 553 U.S. 285 (2008)
• Staples v. United States · 511 U.S. 600 (1994)
• Herbert v. Lando · 441 U.S. 153 (1979)
• Time, Inc. v. Hill · 385 U.S. 374 (1967)
• United States v. Gilliland · 312 U.S. 86 (1941)
• Schacht v. United States · 398 U.S. 58 (1970)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• Keeton v. Hustler Magazine, Inc. · 465 U.S. 770 (1984)
• 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.

• Iancu v. Brunetti · 588 U.S. 388 (2019)
• Barr v. American Assn. of Political Consultants, Inc. · 591 U.S. 610 (2020)
• Reed v. Town of Gilbert · 576 U.S. 155 (2015)
• McCutcheon v. Federal Election Comm'n · 572 U.S. 185 (2014)
• National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra · 585 U.S. 755 (2018)
• Counterman v. Colorado · 600 U.S. 66 (2023)
• Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College · 600 U.S. 181 (2023)
• United States v. Hansen · 599 U.S. 762 (2023)
• Murthy v. Missouri · 603 U.S. 43 (2024)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2012). 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).