United States v. O'Brien
391 U.S. 367 · Decided May 27, 1968 · 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
United States v. O'Brien was decided on May 27, 1968 by a vote of 7–1. The Court vacated the lower court's decision. Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Protest demonstrations” in the First Amendment area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 391 U.S. 367 · 88 S. Ct. 1673 · 20 L. Ed. 2d 672 · 1968 U.S. LEXIS 2910
- Docket number
- 232
- Decided
- May 27, 1968
- Argued
- January 24, 1968
- Court era
- Warren Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Vacated
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 7–1
- Majority opinion
- Earl Warren
- Opinion assigned by
- Earl Warren
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Protest demonstrations
- Issue area
- First Amendment
- Legal provision
- Selective Service statutes
- Type of law
- Federal statute
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Conservative what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Hugo L. Black | Majority | |
| Justice William O. Douglas | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Chief Justice Earl Warren | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice John M. Harlan II | Concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice William J. Brennan Jr. | Majority | |
| Justice Potter Stewart | Majority | |
| Justice Byron R. White | Majority | |
| Justice Abe Fortas | Majority |
Did not participate: Thurgood Marshall.
Full case caption
United States v. O'Brien
SCDB identifiers: case 1967-135, docket 1967-135-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Protest demonstrations”
- Zwicker v. Boll
- Cameron v. Johnson
- Epton v. New York
- Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
- Gregory v. City of Chicago
- Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham
Cases on the same legal provision: Selective Service statutes
- Eagar v. Magma Copper Co.
- Oestereich v. Selective Service System Local Board No. 11
- Clark v. Gabriel
- Duvernay v. United States.
- McKart v. United States
- Gutknecht v. United States
Same Term, same area (First Amendment)
- Associated Press v. Walker
- Potomac News Co. v. United States
- Conner v. City of Hammond
- Central Magazine Sales, Ltd. v. United States
- Beckley Newspapers Corp. v. Hanks
- Chance v. California
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