United States v. Orito

413 U.S. 139 · Decided June 21, 1973 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

United States v. Orito was decided on June 21, 1973 by a vote of 5–4. The Court vacated the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Obscenity, federal” 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

United States v. Orito

SCDB identifiers: case 1972-162, docket 1972-162-01.

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

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  413 U.S. 15Decided June 21, 19735–4Warren E. Burger
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  413 U.S. 49Decided June 21, 19735–4Warren E. Burger
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Same Term, same area (First Amendment)

• California v. Larue
  409 U.S. 109Decided December 5, 19726–3William H. Rehnquist
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  410 U.S. 667Decided March 19, 19736–3Per curiam
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  411 U.S. 192Decided April 2, 19735–3Warren E. Burger
• Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Democratic National Committee
  412 U.S. 94Decided May 29, 19737–2Warren E. Burger
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  413 U.S. 15Decided June 21, 19735–4Warren E. Burger
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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