Virginia v. Barry Elton Black, Richard J. Elliott, and Jonathan O'Mara

Decided April 7, 2003. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 01-1107 · 538 U.S. 343 (2003) · Cited 1,109 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 7–2.

“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.

• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Terminiello v. Chicago · 337 U.S. 1 (1949)
• County Court of Ulster Cty. v. Allen · 442 U.S. 140 (1979)
• Secretary of State of Md. v. Joseph H. Munson Co. · 467 U.S. 947 (1984)
• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire · 315 U.S. 568 (1942)
• Texas v. Johnson · 491 U.S. 397 (1989)
• Capitol Square Review & Advisory Board v. Pinette · 515 U.S. 753 (1995)
• New York v. Ferber · 458 U.S. 747 (1982)
• Hill v. Colorado · 530 U.S. 703 (2000)
• United States v. Salerno · 481 U.S. 739 (1987)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• Hoffman Estates v. Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc. · 455 U.S. 489 (1982)
• Members of the City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent · 466 U.S. 789 (1984)
• Francis v. Franklin · 471 U.S. 307 (1985)
• City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc. · 475 U.S. 41 (1986)
• City of Houston v. Hill · 482 U.S. 451 (1987)
• Brandenburg v. Ohio · 395 U.S. 444 (1969)
• Jackson v. Virginia · 443 U.S. 307 (1979)
• In Re WINSHIP · 397 U.S. 358 (1970)
• Grayned v. City of Rockford · 408 U.S. 104 (1972)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• Sandstrom v. Montana · 442 U.S. 510 (1979)
• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District · 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona · 520 U.S. 43 (1997)
• Jett v. Dallas Independent School District · 491 U.S. 701 (1989)
• Parker v. Levy · 417 U.S. 733 (1974)
• Cohen v. California · 403 U.S. 15 (1971)
• Whitney v. California · 274 U.S. 357 (1927)
• Watts v. United States · 394 U.S. 705 (1969)

Cited by

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

• Counterman v. Colorado · 600 U.S. 66 (2023)
• Elonis v. United States · 575 U.S. 723 (2015)
• Morse v. Frederick · 551 U.S. 393 (2007)
• McConnell v. Federal Election Commission · 540 U.S. 93 (2003)
• Virginia v. Hicks · 539 U.S. 113 (2003)
• Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Comm'n · 584 U.S. 617 (2018)
• Fulton v. Philadelphia · 593 U.S. 522 (2021)
• Mahanoy Area School Dist. v. B. L. · 594 U.S. 180 (2021)

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).