Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc.

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Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc.
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 8, 1991 Decided June 21, 1991
Full case name	Michael Barnes, prosecuting attorney of St. Joseph County Indiana, et al. v. Glen Theatre, Inc., et al.
Citations	501 U.S. 560 (more) 111 S. Ct. 2456; 115 L. Ed. 2d 504; 1991 U.S. LEXIS 3633; 59 U.S.L.W. 4745; 91 Cal. Daily Op. Service 4731; 91 Daily Journal DAR 7362
Case history
Prior	Glen Theatre, Inc. v. Pearson, 802 F.2d 287 (7th Cir. 1986); on remand, Glen Theatre, Inc. v. Civil City of South Bend, 695 F. Supp. 414 (N.D. Ind. 1988); reversed, Miller v. Civil City of South Bend, 887 F.2d 826 (7th Cir. 1989); on rehearing en banc, 904 F.2d 1081 (7th Cir. 1990); cert. granted, 498 U.S. 807 (1990).
Holding
States have the authority and right to regulate and/or ban nudity, as it is in the interests of both the government and society to preserve morality by statute. Nudity is not protected under the First Amendment, nor expressive content.
Court membership
Chief Justice William Rehnquist Associate Justices Byron White · Thurgood Marshall Harry Blackmun · John P. Stevens Sandra Day O'Connor · Antonin Scalia Anthony Kennedy · David Souter
Case opinions
Plurality	Rehnquist, joined by O'Connor, Kennedy
Concurrence	Scalia
Concurrence	Souter
Dissent	White, joined by Marshall, Blackmun, Stevens
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. I

Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc., 501 U.S. 560 (1991), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court concerning the First Amendment and the ability of the government to outlaw certain forms of expressive conduct. It ruled that the state has the constitutional authority to ban public nudity, even as part of expressive conduct such as dancing, because it furthers a substantial government interest in protecting the morality and order of society.^[1] This case is perhaps best summarized by a sentence in Justice Souter's concurring opinion, which is often paraphrased as "Nudity itself is not inherently expressive conduct."