Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

558 U.S. 310 · Decided January 21, 2010 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission was decided on January 21, 2010 by a vote of 5–4. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision in part, reversed or vacated it in part, and remanded the case. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Campaign spending” in the First Amendment area. SCDB codes this decision as formally altering one or more of the Court's own precedents. SCDB records that the Court declared an act of Congress unconstitutional.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

SCDB identifiers: case 2009-012, docket 2009-012-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Campaign spending”

• Arizona Free Enterprise Club's Freedom Club Pac v. Ken BennettLaw held unconstitutional
  564 U.S. 721Decided June 27, 20115–4John G. Roberts Jr.
• Davis v. FECLaw held unconstitutional
  554 U.S. 724Decided June 26, 20085–4Samuel A. Alito Jr.
• American Tradition Partnership, Inc. v. Steve BullockLaw held unconstitutional
  567 U.S. 516Decided June 25, 20125–4Per curiam
• Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc.Law held unconstitutional
  551 U.S. 449Decided June 25, 20075–4John G. Roberts Jr.
• Neil Randall v. William H. SorrellLaw held unconstitutional
  548 U.S. 230Decided June 26, 20066–3Stephen G. Breyer
• Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. v. Federal Election Commission
  546 U.S. 410Decided January 23, 20069–0Per curiam

See all

Cases on the same legal provision: First Amendment (speech, press, and assembly)

• John Doe #1 v. Sam Reed
  561 U.S. 186Decided June 24, 20108–1John G. Roberts Jr.
• Pleasant Grove City v. Summum
  555 U.S. 460Decided February 25, 20099–0Samuel A. Alito Jr.
• Ben Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association
  555 U.S. 353Decided February 24, 20096–3John G. Roberts Jr.
• Daniel B. Locke v. Edward A. Karass
  555 U.S. 207Decided January 21, 20099–0Stephen G. Breyer
• Albert Snyder v. Fred W. Phelps, Sr.
  562 U.S. 443Decided March 2, 20118–1John G. Roberts Jr.
• Nevada Commission on Ethics v. Michael A. Carrigan
  564 U.S. 117Decided June 13, 20119–0Antonin Scalia

Same Term, same area (First Amendment)

• United States v. Robert J. StevensLaw held unconstitutional
  559 U.S. 460Decided April 20, 20108–1John G. Roberts Jr.
• Ken L. Salazar v. Frank Buono
  559 U.S. 700Decided April 28, 20105–4Anthony M. Kennedy
• Eric H. Holder, Jr. v. Humanitarian Law Project
  561 U.S. 1Decided June 21, 20106–3John G. Roberts Jr.
• Christian Legal Society Chapter of the University of California v. Leo P. Martinez
  561 U.S. 661Decided June 28, 20105–4Ruth Bader Ginsburg

See all

Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error