United States v. O'Brien

Decided May 27, 1968. Earl Warren delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 232 · 391 U.S. 367 (1968) · Cited 3,604 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 7–1.

“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.

• Lichter v. United States · 334 U.S. 742 (1948)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• Gomillion v. Lightfoot · 364 U.S. 339 (1960)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez · 372 U.S. 144 (1963)
• Trop v. Dulles · 356 U.S. 86 (1958)
• Abel v. United States · 362 U.S. 217 (1960)
• Stromberg v. California · 283 U.S. 359 (1931)
• Grosjean v. American Press Co. · 297 U.S. 233 (1936)
• Bates v. City of Little Rock · 361 U.S. 516 (1960)
• Heflin v. United States · 358 U.S. 415 (1959)
• Prince v. United States · 352 U.S. 322 (1957)
• Milanovich v. United States · 365 U.S. 551 (1961)
• Donaldson v. Read Magazine, Inc. · 333 U.S. 178 (1948)
• Erie Railroad v. Tompkins · 304 U.S. 64 (1938)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Sherman v. United States · 356 U.S. 369 (1958)
• Wolf v. Colorado · 338 U.S. 25 (1949)
• Thomas v. Collins · 323 U.S. 516 (1945)
• Terminiello v. Chicago · 337 U.S. 1 (1949)
• Gore v. United States · 357 U.S. 386 (1958)
• Byars v. United States · 273 U.S. 28 (1927)
• United States v. Lovett · 328 U.S. 303 (1946)
• Lustig v. United States · 338 U.S. 74 (1949)
• Ex Parte Quirin · 317 U.S. 1 (1942)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Fruit & Vegetable Packers & Warehousemen, Local 760 · 377 U.S. 58 (1964)
• Arizona v. California · 283 U.S. 423 (1931)
• Musser v. Utah · 333 U.S. 95 (1948)
• Duignan v. United States · 274 U.S. 195 (1927)

Cited by

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

• City of Erie v. Pap's A. M. · 529 U.S. 277 (2000)
• Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc. · 501 U.S. 560 (1991)
• Texas v. Johnson · 491 U.S. 397 (1989)
• Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc. · 547 U.S. 47 (2006)
• Arcara v. Cloud Books, Inc. · 478 U.S. 697 (1986)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Superior Court Trial Lawyers Ass'n · 493 U.S. 411 (1990)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• California v. LaRue · 409 U.S. 109 (1972)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 520 U.S. 180 (1997)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Smith v. Goguen · 415 U.S. 566 (1974)
• Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton · 606 U.S. 461 (2025)
• Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence · 468 U.S. 288 (1984)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• Wayte v. United States · 470 U.S. 598 (1985)
• City of Mobile v. Bolden · 446 U.S. 55 (1980)
• United States v. Albertini · 472 U.S. 675 (1985)
• Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly · 533 U.S. 525 (2001)
• Eisenstadt v. Baird · 405 U.S. 438 (1972)
• Elrod v. Burns · 427 U.S. 347 (1976)
• Ward v. Rock Against Racism · 491 U.S. 781 (1989)
• City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc. · 475 U.S. 41 (1986)
• Boy Scouts of America v. Dale · 530 U.S. 640 (2000)
• City of Los Angeles v. Alameda Books, Inc. · 535 U.S. 425 (2002)
• Procunier v. Martinez · 416 U.S. 396 (1974)
• Members of the City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent · 466 U.S. 789 (1984)
• Reed v. Town of Gilbert · 576 U.S. 155 (2015)
• Consolidated Edison Co. of New York v. Public Service Commission · 447 U.S. 530 (1980)
• United States v. Windsor · 570 U.S. 744 (2013)

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).