Justice William Brennan wrote for the Court in cases about who can vote, what can be said about public officials, when a benefit can be cut off, how the law treats men and women, and whether a flag can be burned. Five of those opinions, from 1962 to 1989, are below. Each was an opinion for the Court that he wrote.
Who can bring the case
Baker v. Carr (1962), decided March 26, 1962. Tennessee voters challenged a 1901 statute that apportioned the seats in the General Assembly among the state's 95 counties, and the state's failure to reapportion them since, as a violation of their federal constitutional rights. The district court dismissed the complaint, holding that it lacked jurisdiction over the subject matter and that no claim was stated on which relief could be granted. Brennan, for the Court, held that the federal court had jurisdiction, that the voters had standing, and that their equal protection claim was not a "nonjusticiable 'political question.'" The Court did not decide how the districts had to be drawn. It decided that a court may hear the question.
Actual malice
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), decided March 9, 1964. An elected official in Montgomery, Alabama sued the New York Times for libel over an advertisement in the paper. Brennan wrote that a State cannot under the First and Fourteenth Amendments award damages to a public official for a defamatory falsehood about his official conduct unless he proves "actual malice," meaning that the statement was made "with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not."
A hearing first
Goldberg v. Kelly (1970), decided March 23, 1970. New York City residents who received aid under the federally assisted Aid to Families with Dependent Children program or New York State's general Home Relief program alleged that officials had terminated, or were about to terminate, their aid without prior notice and a hearing. The lower court held that only an evidentiary hearing before termination would satisfy due process, and rejected the officials' argument that a later "fair hearing" and an informal review beforehand were enough. The Supreme Court, in Brennan's opinion, agreed that due process required a hearing before the aid stopped.
Important objectives
Craig v. Boren (1976), decided December 20, 1976. Oklahoma prohibited the sale of 3.2% beer to men under 21 and to women under 18. The state defended the difference with statistics about young men's drunk-driving arrests. Brennan, for the Court, held that the law denied equal protection. His test: "classifications by gender must serve important governmental objectives and must be substantially related to achievement of those objectives." The statistics, the Court found, did not show that the age difference was substantially related to traffic safety.
Burning a flag
Texas v. Johnson (1989), decided June 21, 1989. During the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas, Gregory Lee Johnson took part in a political demonstration against the policies of the Reagan administration and some Dallas-based corporations and, after a march through the city streets, burned an American flag. No one was physically injured or threatened with injury, although several witnesses were seriously offended. He was convicted of desecration of a venerated object under a Texas statute. Brennan held that the conviction violated the First Amendment: "If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable."
What the five opinions show
Each opinion sets a requirement. Baker says a court may hear a challenge to how districts are drawn. Sullivan says an official suing over a falsehood about his official conduct must prove actual malice. Goldberg says benefits cannot be cut off without a hearing first. Craig says a gender line must serve important objectives and be substantially related to them. Johnson says offense alone does not justify punishing expression.
Sources
- Baker v. Carr (1962), 369 U.S. 186: Library of Congress, U.S. Reports
- New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), 376 U.S. 254: Library of Congress, U.S. Reports
- Goldberg v. Kelly (1970), 397 U.S. 254: Library of Congress, U.S. Reports
- Craig v. Boren (1976), 429 U.S. 190: Library of Congress, U.S. Reports
- Texas v. Johnson (1989), 491 U.S. 397: Library of Congress, U.S. Reports
Updated November 2026.
This post was rewritten with AI (Claude) and reviewed by an editor before publication.
