Old Dominion Branch No. 496 v. Austin

418 U.S. 264 · Decided June 25, 1974 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Old Dominion Branch No. 496 v. Austin was decided on June 25, 1974 by a vote of 6–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Thurgood Marshall 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

Old Dominion Branch No. 496, National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL-CIO, et al. v. Austin et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1973-160, docket 1973-160-01.

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

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Same Term, same area (First Amendment)

• Plummer v. City of ColumbusLaw held unconstitutional
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• Hess v. Indiana
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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