Zurcher v. Stanford Daily

436 U.S. 547 · Decided May 31, 1978 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Zurcher v. Stanford Daily was decided on May 31, 1978 by a vote of 5–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Byron R. White wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Search and seizure (general)” in the Criminal Procedure area.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Did not participate: William J. Brennan Jr..

Full case caption

Zurcher, Chief of Police of Palo Alto, et al. v. Stanford Daily et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1977-098, docket 1977-098-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Search and seizure (general)”

• Michigan v. Tyler
  436 U.S. 499Decided May 31, 19787–1Potter Stewart
• Marshall v. Barlow's, Inc.Law held unconstitutional
  436 U.S. 307Decided May 23, 19785–3Byron R. White
• Mincey v. Arizona
  437 U.S. 385Decided June 21, 19789–0Potter Stewart
• Franks v. Delaware
  438 U.S. 154Decided June 26, 19787–2Harry A. Blackmun
• United States v. Ceccolini
  435 U.S. 268Decided March 21, 19786–2William H. Rehnquist
• United States v. New York Telephone Co.
  434 U.S. 159Decided December 7, 19775–4Byron R. White

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Cases on the same legal provision: Fourth Amendment

• Pennsylvania v. Mimms
  434 U.S. 106Decided December 5, 19776–3Per curiam
• Rakas v. Illinois
  439 U.S. 128Decided December 5, 19785–4William H. Rehnquist
• Delaware v. Prouse
  440 U.S. 648Decided March 27, 19798–1Byron R. White
• Dalia v. United States
  441 U.S. 238Decided April 18, 19795–4Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• United States v. Chadwick
  433 U.S. 1Decided June 21, 19777–2Warren E. Burger
• Dunaway v. New York
  442 U.S. 200Decided June 5, 19796–2William J. Brennan Jr.

Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)

• Rinaldi v. United States
  434 U.S. 22Decided November 7, 19776–3Per curiam
• Pennsylvania v. Mimms
  434 U.S. 106Decided December 5, 19776–3Per curiam
• United States v. New York Telephone Co.
  434 U.S. 159Decided December 7, 19775–4Byron R. White
• Moore v. Illinois
  434 U.S. 220Decided December 12, 19778–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Smith v. Digmon
  434 U.S. 332Decided January 16, 19789–0Per curiam
• Bordenkircher v. Hayes
  434 U.S. 357Decided January 18, 19785–4Potter Stewart

See all

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