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Noto v. United States

367 U.S. 290 · Decided June 5, 1961 · Supreme Court of the United States

Record summary. This page is generated from the Supreme Court Database’s coded data about the case. It describes who decided what, not the Court’s reasoning. Read the opinion itself before relying on it. Not legal advice.

At a glance

Noto v. United States was decided on June 5, 1961 unanimously (9–0). The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice John M. Harlan II wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Internal security legislation” in the First Amendment area.

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Case details

Citations
367 U.S. 290 · 81 S. Ct. 1517 · 6 L. Ed. 2d 836 · 1961 U.S. LEXIS 2004
Docket number
9
Decided
June 5, 1961
Argued
October 10, 1960
Court era
Warren Court
Decision type
Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
Disposition
Reversed
Outcome for petitioner
The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
Vote
9–0 (unanimous)
Majority opinion
John M. Harlan II
Opinion assigned by
Earl Warren
How the case arrived
Certiorari
Issue area
First Amendment
Legal provision
Smith Act, Subversive Activities Control Act, or similar legislation
Type of law
Federal statute
Decision direction (SCDB)
Liberal what this means

How the Justices voted

JusticeVoteSeparate writing
Justice Hugo L. BlackSpecial concurrenceWrote an opinion
Justice Felix FrankfurterMajority
Justice William O. DouglasSpecial concurrenceWrote an opinion
Justice Tom C. ClarkMajority
Chief Justice Earl WarrenSpecial concurrenceCo-authored an opinion
Justice John M. Harlan IIMajorityWrote an opinion
Justice William J. Brennan Jr.Special concurrenceCo-authored an opinion
Justice Charles E. WhittakerMajority
Justice Potter StewartMajority

Full case caption

Noto v. United States

SCDB identifiers: case 1960-116, docket 1960-116-01.

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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