Pope v. Illinois

481 U.S. 497 · Decided May 4, 1987 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Pope v. Illinois was decided on May 4, 1987 by a vote of 5–4. The Court vacated the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Byron R. White wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Obscenity, state” 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

Pope et al. v. Illinois

SCDB identifiers: case 1986-088, docket 1986-088-01.

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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)

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  479 U.S. 92Decided November 17, 19865–4Per curiam
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• Meese v. Keene
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• Turner v. Safley
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• O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz
  482 U.S. 342Decided June 9, 19875–4William H. Rehnquist

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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