FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION v. PACIFICA FOUNDATION et al. (1978)

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION v. PACIFICA FOUNDATION et al.
	Term: 1977
Important Dates
	Argued: April 18, 1978
	Decided: July 3, 1978
Outcome
	Reversed
Vote
	5-4
Majority
	Warren Burger • William Rehnquist • John Paul Stevens
Concurring
	Harry Blackmun • Lewis Powell
Dissenting
	William Brennan • Thurgood Marshall • Potter Stewart • Byron White

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION v. PACIFICA FOUNDATION et al. is a case that was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States on July 3, 1978. The case was argued before the court on April 18, 1978.

In a 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the ruling of the lower court. The case originated from the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit (includes the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia but not the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, which has local jurisdiction).

For a full list of cases decided in the 1970s, click here. For a full list of cases decided by the Burger Court, click here.

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About the case

Subject matter: First Amendment - First Amendment, miscellaneous (cf. comity: First Amendment)
Petitioner: Federal Communications Commission (including a predecessor, Federal Radio Commission)
Petitioner state: Unknown
Respondent type: Radio station
Respondent state: Unknown
Citation: 438 U.S. 726
How the court took jurisdiction: Cert
What type of decision was made: Opinion of the court (orally argued)
Who was the chief justice: Warren Burger
Who wrote the majority opinion: John Paul Stevens

These data points were accessed from The Supreme Court Database, which also attempts to categorize the ideological direction of the court's ruling in each case. This case's ruling was categorized as conservative.