Ginzburg v. United States
383 U.S. 463 · Decided March 21, 1966 · Supreme Court of the United States
Record summary. This page is generated from the Supreme Court Database’s coded data about the case. It describes who decided what, not the Court’s reasoning. Read the opinion itself before relying on it. Not legal advice.
At a glance
Ginzburg v. United States was decided on March 21, 1966 by a vote of 5–4. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Justice William J. Brennan Jr. wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Obscenity, federal” in the First Amendment area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 383 U.S. 463 · 86 S. Ct. 942 · 16 L. Ed. 2d 31 · 1966 U.S. LEXIS 2013
- Docket number
- 42
- Decided
- March 21, 1966
- Argued
- December 7, 1965
- Court era
- Warren Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party did not receive a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority opinion
- William J. Brennan Jr.
- Opinion assigned by
- Earl Warren
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Obscenity, federal
- Issue area
- First Amendment
- Legal provision
- 18 U.S.C. § 1461
- Type of law
- Infrequently litigated statute
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Conservative what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Hugo L. Black | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice William O. Douglas | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Tom C. Clark | Majority | |
| Chief Justice Earl Warren | Majority | |
| Justice John M. Harlan II | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice William J. Brennan Jr. | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Potter Stewart | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Byron R. White | Majority | |
| Justice Abe Fortas | Majority |
Full case caption
Ginzburg et al. v. United States
SCDB identifiers: case 1965-069, docket 1965-069-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Obscenity, federal”
- Redmond et Ux. v. United States
- Aday v. United States
- Books, Inc. v. United States
- Central Magazine Sales, Ltd. v. United States
- Manual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day
- Rowan v. United States Post Office Department
Same Term, same area (First Amendment)
- Albertson v. Subversive Activities Control BoardLaw held unconstitutional
- Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham
- Solomon v. South Carolina
- Rosenblatt v. Baer
- A Book Named 'john Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure' v. Attorney General of Massachusetts
- Mishkin v. New York
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