In re Primus

436 U.S. 412 · Decided May 30, 1978 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

In re Primus was decided on May 30, 1978 by a vote of 7–1. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Commercial speech, attorneys” in the Attorneys area.

Read the opinion

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

Case details

How the Justices voted

Did not participate: William J. Brennan Jr..

Full case caption

In re Primus

SCDB identifiers: case 1977-092, docket 1977-092-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Commercial speech, attorneys”

• Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Assn.
  436 U.S. 447Decided May 30, 19788–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Bates v. State Bar of ArizonaLaw held unconstitutional
  433 U.S. 350Decided June 27, 19775–4Harry A. Blackmun
• In re R. M. J.Law held unconstitutional
  455 U.S. 191Decided January 25, 19829–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Zauderer v. Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the Supreme Court of OhioLaw held unconstitutional
  471 U.S. 626Decided May 28, 19855–3Byron R. White
• United Transportation Union v. State Bar of Michigan
  401 U.S. 576Decided April 5, 19715–3Hugo L. Black
• Shapero v. Kentucky Bar AssociationLaw held unconstitutional
  486 U.S. 466Decided June 13, 19886–3William J. Brennan Jr.

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Cases on the same legal provision: First Amendment (association)

• Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Labor Union, Inc.
  433 U.S. 119Decided June 23, 19777–2William H. Rehnquist
• Marchioro v. Chaney
  442 U.S. 191Decided June 4, 19798–0John Paul Stevens
• Abood v. Detroit Board of Education
  431 U.S. 209Decided May 23, 19779–0Potter Stewart
• Elrod v. Burns
  427 U.S. 347Decided June 25, 19765–3William J. Brennan Jr.
• Democratic Party of United States v. Wisconsin ex Rel. La FolletteLaw held unconstitutional
  450 U.S. 107Decided February 25, 19816–3Potter Stewart
• Citizens Against Rent Control/coalition for Fair Housing v. City of BerkeleyLaw held unconstitutional
  454 U.S. 290Decided December 14, 19818–1Warren E. Burger

Same Term, same area (Attorneys)

• Christiansburg Garment Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
  434 U.S. 412Decided January 23, 19788–0Potter Stewart
• Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Assn.
  436 U.S. 447Decided May 30, 19788–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Hutto v. Finney
  437 U.S. 678Decided June 23, 19785–4John Paul Stevens

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