Ward et al. v. Rock Against Racism

Decided June 22, 1989. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 88-226 · 491 U.S. 781 (1989) · Cited 3,406 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 6–3.

“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.

• Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence · 468 U.S. 288 (1984)
• Boos v. Barry · 485 U.S. 312 (1988)
• Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad · 420 U.S. 546 (1975)
• City of Lakewood v. Plain Dealer Publishing Co. · 486 U.S. 750 (1988)
• Frisby v. Schultz · 487 U.S. 474 (1988)
• City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc. · 475 U.S. 41 (1986)
• Kovacs v. Cooper · 336 U.S. 77 (1949)
• United States v. Albertini · 472 U.S. 675 (1985)
• Grayned v. City of Rockford · 408 U.S. 104 (1972)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Martin v. City of Struthers · 319 U.S. 141 (1943)
• Members of the City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent · 466 U.S. 789 (1984)
• Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n · 460 U.S. 37 (1983)
• Freedman v. Maryland · 380 U.S. 51 (1965)
• Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. · 452 U.S. 640 (1981)
• Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan · 372 U.S. 58 (1963)
• City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co. · 488 U.S. 469 (1989)
• United States v. Grace · 461 U.S. 171 (1983)
• Regan v. Time, Inc. · 468 U.S. 641 (1984)
• Hoffman Estates v. Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc. · 455 U.S. 489 (1982)
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Anderson v. Celebrezze · 460 U.S. 780 (1983)
• Near v. Minnesota Ex Rel. Olson · 283 U.S. 697 (1931)
• Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham · 394 U.S. 147 (1969)
• Carey v. Brown · 447 U.S. 455 (1980)
• Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education · 476 U.S. 267 (1986)
• Niemotko v. Maryland · 340 U.S. 268 (1951)
• Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Utilities Commission · 475 U.S. 1 (1986)

Cited by

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

• Hill v. Colorado · 530 U.S. 703 (2000)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 520 U.S. 180 (1997)
• Reed v. Town of Gilbert · 576 U.S. 155 (2015)
• City of Erie v. Pap's A. M. · 529 U.S. 277 (2000)
• Iancu v. Brunetti · 588 U.S. 388 (2019)
• Packingham v. North Carolina · 582 U.S. 98 (2017)
• Barr v. American Assn. of Political Consultants, Inc. · 591 U.S. 610 (2020)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of the New York State Crime Victims Board · 502 U.S. 105 (1991)
• TikTok Inc. v. Garland · 604 U.S. 56 (2025)
• International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. v. Lee · 505 U.S. 672 (1992)
• Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton · 606 U.S. 461 (2025)
• Burson v. Freeman · 504 U.S. 191 (1992)
• United States v. Edge Broadcasting Co. · 509 U.S. 418 (1993)
• Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement · 505 U.S. 123 (1992)
• Madsen v. Women's Health Center, Inc. · 512 U.S. 753 (1994)
• Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc. v. Village of Stratton · 536 U.S. 150 (2002)
• Christian Legal Soc. Chapter of Univ. of Cal., Hastings College of Law v. Martinez · 561 U.S. 661 (2010)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)
• United States v. Williams · 553 U.S. 285 (2008)
• Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party · 552 U.S. 442 (2008)
• City of Cincinnati v. Discovery Network, Inc. · 507 U.S. 410 (1993)
• United States v. Kokinda · 497 U.S. 720 (1990)
• Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck · 587 U.S. 802 (2019)
• Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky · 585 U.S. 1 (2018)
• City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising of Austin, LLC · 596 U.S. 61 (2022)
• National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley · 524 U.S. 569 (1998)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Superior Court Trial Lawyers Ass'n · 493 U.S. 411 (1990)
• New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen · 597 U.S. 1 (2022)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Anthony McLeod Kennedy’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).