Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co.

497 U.S. 1 · Decided June 21, 1990 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. was decided on June 21, 1990 by a vote of 7–2. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist 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

Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1989-118, docket 1989-118-01.

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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