Herbert v. Lando

441 U.S. 153 · Decided April 18, 1979 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Herbert v. Lando was decided on April 18, 1979 by a vote of 6–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Byron R. White wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Libel and defamation” 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

Herbert v. Lando et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1978-076, docket 1978-076-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Libel and defamation”

• Hutchinson v. Proxmire
  443 U.S. 111Decided June 26, 19798–1Warren E. Burger
• Wolston v. Reader's Digest Association, Inc.
  443 U.S. 157Decided June 26, 19798–1William H. Rehnquist
• Time, Inc. v. Firestone
  424 U.S. 448Decided March 2, 19766–2William H. Rehnquist
• Old Dominion Branch No. 496 v. Austin
  418 U.S. 264Decided June 25, 19746–3Thurgood Marshall
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc.
  418 U.S. 323Decided June 25, 19747–2Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc.
  466 U.S. 485Decided April 30, 19846–3John Paul Stevens

See all

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

• Smith v. Arkansas State Highway Employees
  441 U.S. 463Decided April 30, 19797–1Per curiam
• Friedman v. Rogers
  440 U.S. 1Decided February 21, 19797–2Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Smith v. Daily Mail Publishing Co.Law held unconstitutional
  443 U.S. 97Decided June 26, 19798–0Warren E. Burger
• Givhan v. Western Line Consolidated School District
  439 U.S. 410Decided January 4, 19799–0William H. Rehnquist
• Brown v. Glines
  444 U.S. 348Decided January 21, 19805–3Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Secretary of the Navy v. Huff
  444 U.S. 453Decided January 21, 19805–3Per curiam

Same Term, same area (First Amendment)

• Givhan v. Western Line Consolidated School District
  439 U.S. 410Decided January 4, 19799–0William H. Rehnquist
• Friedman v. Rogers
  440 U.S. 1Decided February 21, 19797–2Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Smith v. Arkansas State Highway Employees
  441 U.S. 463Decided April 30, 19797–1Per curiam
• Marchioro v. Chaney
  442 U.S. 191Decided June 4, 19798–0John Paul Stevens
• Smith v. Daily Mail Publishing Co.Law held unconstitutional
  443 U.S. 97Decided June 26, 19798–0Warren E. Burger
• Hutchinson v. Proxmire
  443 U.S. 111Decided June 26, 19798–1Warren E. Burger

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