POSC402 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Chaplinsky V. New Hampshire, Westboro Baptist Church, Landmark Media Enterprises
7 Oct 2018
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On march 8, 1949, irving feiner, a white student at syracuse university, made an inflammatory speech on a street corner in syracuse, new york. During the speech, which was intended to encourage listeners to attend a leftist rally, feiner made several disparaging remarks about local politicians, organizations, and president truman. A crowd gathered, and several listeners began "muttering" and "shoving. " Two officers on the scene, fearing violence, asked feiner twice to end his speech. After he refused, the officers arrested feiner for inciting a breach of the peace. A trial court found feiner guilty and sentenced him to thirty days in prison. On appeal, feiner argued his arrest violated his right to free speech under the first. The onondaga county court and the new york court of appeals each denied his claim. In a 6-3 opinion authored by chief justice fred vinson, the court applied the "clear and present danger" principle it originally articulated in schenck v. united states (1919).
