Marks v. United States

430 U.S. 188 · Decided March 1, 1977 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Marks v. United States was decided on March 1, 1977 by a vote of 5–4. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Obscenity, federal” 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

Marks et al. v. United States

SCDB identifiers: case 1976-060, docket 1976-060-01.

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Other cases on “Obscenity, federal”

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Cases on the same legal provision: Fifth Amendment (due process)

• Moody v. Daggett
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  426 U.S. 67Decided June 1, 19769–0John Paul Stevens
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Same Term, same area (First Amendment)

• Parker Seal Co. v. Cummins
  429 U.S. 65Decided November 2, 19764–4
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  429 U.S. 167Decided December 8, 19769–0Warren E. Burger
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  429 U.S. 274Decided January 11, 19779–0William H. Rehnquist
• Oklahoma Publishing Co. v. District Court in and for Oklahoma County
  430 U.S. 308Decided March 7, 19779–0Per curiam
• Wooley v. Maynard et Ux.Law held unconstitutional
  430 U.S. 705Decided April 20, 19776–3Warren E. Burger
• Linmark Associates, Inc. v. Township of WillingboroLaw held unconstitutional
  431 U.S. 85Decided May 2, 19778–0Thurgood Marshall

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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