Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo

418 U.S. 241 · Decided June 25, 1974 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo was decided on June 25, 1974 unanimously (9–0). The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “First Amendment, miscellaneous” in the First Amendment area. SCDB records that the Court declared a state or territorial law, regulation or constitutional provision unconstitutional.

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

Miami Herald Publishing Co., Division of Knight Newspapers, Inc. v. Tornillo

SCDB identifiers: case 1973-159, docket 1973-159-01.

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Other cases on “First Amendment, miscellaneous”

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

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  418 U.S. 153Decided June 24, 19749–0William H. Rehnquist
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Same Term, same area (First Amendment)

• Plummer v. City of ColumbusLaw held unconstitutional
  414 U.S. 2Decided October 15, 19735–4Per curiam
• Norwell v. City of Cincinnati
  414 U.S. 14Decided November 5, 19739–0Per curiam
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  414 U.S. 31Decided November 12, 19736–3Per curiam
• Hess v. Indiana
  414 U.S. 105Decided November 19, 19736–3Per curiam
• Communist Party of Indiana v. WhitcombLaw held unconstitutional
  414 U.S. 441Decided January 9, 19749–0William J. Brennan Jr.
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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