Turner v. Safley

482 U.S. 78 · Decided June 1, 1987 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Turner v. Safley was decided on June 1, 1987 by a vote of 5–4. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision in part, reversed or vacated it in part, and remanded the case. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “First Amendment, miscellaneous” 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

Turner et al. v. Safley et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1986-110, docket 1986-110-01.

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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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  481 U.S. 497Decided May 4, 19875–4Byron R. White
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  481 U.S. 221Decided April 22, 19877–2Thurgood Marshall
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  485 U.S. 46Decided February 24, 19888–0William H. Rehnquist
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Same Term, same area (First Amendment)

• City of Newport v. Iacobucci
  479 U.S. 92Decided November 17, 19865–4Per curiam
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  479 U.S. 238Decided December 15, 19865–4William J. Brennan Jr.
• Hobbie v. Unemployment Appeals Commission of Florida
  480 U.S. 136Decided February 25, 19878–1William J. Brennan Jr.
• Meese v. Keene
  481 U.S. 465Decided April 28, 19875–3John Paul Stevens
• Pope v. Illinois
  481 U.S. 497Decided May 4, 19875–4Byron R. White
• 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