Which U.S. Supreme Court case held that the First Amendment protects anonymous political speech?

Which U.S. Supreme Court case held that the First Amendment protects anonymous political speech? McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission.

McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission, decided April 19, 1995, held that the First Amendment protects anonymous political advocacy. The Court struck down an Ohio law requiring campaign literature to identify its author or distributor. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the 7–2 majority opinion, treating the leaflet at issue as core political speech rather than ordinary election administration.

Margaret McIntyre had distributed anonymous leaflets opposing a proposed school tax levy. Ohio fined her under a statute requiring identifying information on campaign materials. The Supreme Court concluded that anonymity can protect speakers from retaliation and encourage participation, and that the freedom to publish anonymously extends from literature to political causes.

The decision followed Talley v. California, a 1960 case invalidating a broad ban on anonymous handbills. It did not make every disclosure rule unconstitutional: the Court distinguished regulations aimed at election integrity and applied demanding review to this content-based burden on political expression. Buckley v. Valeo primarily concerned campaign-finance limits and disclosure, while Citizens United v. FEC, decided later, addressed corporate and union political spending. McIntyre’s principle concerns the speaker’s identity, not unlimited immunity for fraud, defamation, or unlawful conduct.