City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc.

475 U.S. 41 · Decided February 25, 1986 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc. was decided on February 25, 1986 by a vote of 7–2. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Obscenity, state” in the First Amendment area.

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

City of Renton et al. v. Playtime Theatres, Inc., et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1985-034, docket 1985-034-01.

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

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Same Term, same area (First Amendment)

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• Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. v. HeppsLaw held unconstitutional
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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