Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568 (1942)

Overview
Opinions

Argued: February 5, 1942

Decided: March 9, 1942

Argued: February 4, 1942

Decided: March 8, 1942

Annotation

Primary Holding

The First Amendment does not protect fighting words, which are those that inherently cause harm or are likely to result in an immediate disturbance.

Facts

The facts giving rise to this case have been disputed, but this is the version that was used by the Court in making its decision. On a public sidewalk in downtown Rochester, Walter Chaplinsky was distributing literature that supported his beliefs as a Jehovah's Witness and attacked more conventional forms of religion. The town marshal warned him against causing a disturbance, but Chaplinsky's conduct resulted in an upheaval that blocked the surrounding roads and caused a police officer to remove (although not arrest) him. On his way to the police station, Chaplinsky saw the town marshal again and shouted at him that he was "a God-damned racketeer" and "a damned Fascist." This verbal assault led to his arrest.

When he was questioned about what he had said, Chaplinsky admitted cursing the marshal as a racketeer and a fascist while denying that he had invoked the name of God. He was convicted of violating a state law that prohibited intentionally offensive, derisive, or annoying speech to any person who is lawfully in a street or public area. Appealing his fine, Chaplinsky argued that the law violated the First Amendment on the grounds that it was overly vague.

Opinions

Majority

Frank Murphy (Author)
Owen Josephus Roberts
Hugo Lafayette Black
Stanley Forman Reed
Felix Frankfurter
William Orville Douglas
Frank Murphy
James Francis Byrnes
Robert Houghwout Jackson

Writing for a unanimous Court, Murphy identified certain categorical exceptions to First Amendment protections. These included obscenities, certain profane and slanderous speech, and "fighting words." He found that Chaplinsky's insults fell into the final category, since they caused a direct harm to their target and could be construed to advocate an immediate breach of the peace. Thus, they lacked the social value of disseminating ideas to the public that lay behind the rights granted by the First Amendment. A state can use its police power to curb their expression in the interests of maintaining order and morality.

Case Commentary

Fighting words are one of the rare categorical exceptions to First Amendment protection, since normally content-based restrictions on speech would be invalidated unless the government can meet the strict scrutiny standard, which is rare. What exactly constitutes fighting words is open to debate, although words that are intended to induce an emotional response in the average person and have no basis in fact are likely to fit into this categorical exception.

Syllabus

U.S. Supreme Court

Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568 (1942)

Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire

No. 255

Argued February 5, 1942

Decided March 9, 1942

315 U.S. 568

Syllabus

1. That part of c. 378, § 2, of the Public Law of New Hampshire which forbids under penalty that any person shall address "any offensive, derisive or annoying word to any other person who is lawfully in any street or other public place," or "call him by any offensive or derisive name," was construed by the Supreme Court of the State, in this case and before this case arose, as limited to the use in a public place of words directly tending to cause a breach of the peace by provoking the person addressed to acts of violence.

Held:

(1) That, so construed, it is sufficiently definite and specific to comply with requirements of due process of law. P. 315 U. S. 573.

(2) That, as applied to a person who, on a public street, addressed another as a "damned Fascist" and a "damned racketeer," it does not substantially or unreasonably impinge upon freedom of speech. P. 315 U.S. 574.

(3) The refusal of the state court to admit evidence offered by the defendant tending to prove provocation and evidence bearing on the truth or falsity of the utterances charged is open to no constitutional objection. P. 315 U.S. 574.

2. The Court notices judicially that the appellations "damned racketeer" and "damned Fascist" are epithets likely to provoke the average person to retaliation, and thereby cause a breach of the peace. P. 315 U.S. 574

91 N.H. 310, 18 A.2d 754, affirmed.

APPEAL from a judgment affirming a conviction under a state law denouncing the use of offensive words when addressed by one person to another in a public place.

Page 315 U. S. 569

Opinions

Opinions & Dissents

U.S. Supreme Court

Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568 (1942) Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire
No. 255
Argued February 5, 1942
Decided March 9, 1942
315 U.S. 568

APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Syllabus

Held:

(1) That, so construed, it is sufficiently definite and specific to comply with requirements of due process of law. P. 315 U. S. 573.

91 N.H. 310, 18 A.2d 754, affirmed.

APPEAL from a judgment affirming a conviction under a state law denouncing the use of offensive words when addressed by one person to another in a public place.

Page 315 U. S. 569

MR. JUSTICE MURPHY delivered the opinion of the Court.

Appellant, a member of the sect known as Jehovah's Witnesses, was convicted in the municipal court of Rochester, New Hampshire, for violation of Chapter 378, § 2, of the Public Laws of New Hampshire:

"No person shall address any offensive, derisive or annoying word to any other person who is lawfully in any street or other public place, nor call him by any offensive or derisive name, nor make any noise or exclamation in his presence and hearing with intent to deride, offend or annoy him, or to prevent him from pursuing his lawful business or occupation."

The complaint charged that appellant,

"with force and arms, in a certain public place in said city of Rochester, to-wit, on the public sidewalk on the easterly side of Wakefield Street, near unto the entrance of the City Hall, did unlawfully repeat the words following, addressed to the complainant, that is to say, 'You are a God damned racketeer' and 'a damned Fascist and the whole government of Rochester are Fascists or agents of Fascists,' the same being offensive, derisive and annoying words and names."

Upon appeal, there was a trial de novo of appellant before a jury in the Superior Court. He was found guilty, and the judgment of conviction was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the State. 91 N.H. 310, 18 A.2d 754.

By motions and exceptions, appellant raised the questions that the statute was invalid under the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States in that it placed an unreasonable restraint on freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of worship, and because it was vague and indefinite. These contentions were overruled, and the case comes here on appeal.

There is no substantial dispute over the facts. Chaplinsky was distributing the literature of his sect on the streets

Page 315 U. S. 570

of Rochester on a busy Saturday afternoon. Members of the local citizenry complained to the City Marshal, Bowering, that Chaplinsky was denouncing all religion as a "racket." Bowering told them that Chaplinsky was lawfully engaged, and then warned Chaplinsky that the crowd was getting restless. Some time later, a disturbance occurred and the traffic officer on duty at the busy intersection started with Chaplinsky for the police station, but did not inform him that he was under arrest or that he was going to be arrested. On the way, they encountered Marshal Bowering, who had been advised that a riot was under way and was therefore hurrying to the scene. Bowering repeated his earlier warning to Chaplinsky, who then addressed to Bowering the words set forth in the complaint.

Chaplinsky's version of the affair was slightly different. He testified that, when he met Bowering, he asked him to arrest the ones responsible for the disturbance. In reply, Bowering cursed him and told him to come along. Appellant admitted that he said the words charged in the complaint, with the exception of the name of the Deity.

Over appellant's objection, the trial court excluded, as immaterial, testimony relating to appellant's mission "to preach the true facts of the Bible," his treatment at the hands of the crowd, and the alleged neglect of duty on the part of the police. This action was approved by the court below, which held that neither provocation nor the truth of the utterance would constitute a defense to the charge.

It is now clear that

"Freedom of speech and freedom of the press, which are protected by the First Amendment from infringement by Congress, are among the fundamental personal rights and liberties which are protected by the Fourteenth Amendment from invasion by state

Page 315 U. S. 571

action."

Lovell v. Griffin, 303 U. S. 444, 303 U. S. 450. [Footnote 1] Freedom of worship is similarly sheltered. Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U. S. 296, 310 U. S. 303.

Appellant assails the statute as a violation of all three freedoms, speech, press and worship, but only an attack on the basis of free speech is warranted. The spoken, not the written, word is involved. And we cannot conceive that cursing a public officer is the exercise of religion in any sense of the term. But even if the activities of the appellant which preceded the incident could be viewed as religious in character, and therefore entitled to the protection of the Fourteenth Amendment, they would not cloak him with immunity from the legal consequences for concomitant acts committed in violation of a valid criminal statute. We turn, therefore, to an examination of the statute itself.

Allowing the broadest scope to the language and purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment, it is well understood that the right of free speech is not absolute at all times and under all circumstances. [Footnote 2] There are certain well defined and narrowly limited classes of speech, the prevention

Page 315 U. S. 572

and punishment of which have never been thought to raise any Constitutional problem. [Footnote 3] These include the lewd and obscene, the profane, the libelous, and the insulting or "fighting" words -- those which, by their very utterance, inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace. [Footnote 4] It has been well observed that such utterances are no essential part of any exposition of ideas, and are of such slight social value as a step to truth that any benefit that may be derived from them is clearly outweighed by the social interest in order and morality. [Footnote 5]

"Resort to epithets or personal abuse is not in any proper sense communication of information or opinion safeguarded by the Constitution, and its punishment as a criminal act would raise no question under that instrument."

Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U. S. 296, 310 U. S. 309-310.

The state statute here challenged comes to us authoritatively construed by the highest court of New Hampshire. It has two provisions -- the first relates to words or names addressed to another in a public place; the second refers to noises and exclamations. The court said:

"The two provisions are distinct. One may stand separately from the other. Assuming, without holding, that the second were unconstitutional, the first could stand if constitutional."

We accept that construction of severability and limit our consideration to the first provision of the statute. [Footnote 6]

Page 315 U. S. 573

On the authority of its earlier decisions, the state court declared that the statute's purpose was to preserve the public peace, no words being "forbidden except such as have a direct tendency to cause acts of violence by the persons to whom, individually, the remark is addressed." [Footnote 7] It was further said:

"The word 'offensive' is not to be defined in terms of what a particular addressee thinks. . . . The test is what men of common intelligence would understand would be words likely to cause an average addressee to fight. . . . The English language has a number of words and expressions which, by general consent, are 'fighting words' when said without a disarming smile. . . . [S]uch words, as ordinary men know, are likely to cause a fight. So are threatening, profane or obscene revilings. Derisive and annoying words can be taken as coming within the purview of the statute as heretofore interpreted only when they have this characteristic of plainly tending to excite the addressee to a breach of the peace. . . . The statute, as construed, does no more than prohibit the face-to-face words plainly likely to cause a breach of the peace by the addressee, words whose speaking constitutes a breach of the peace by the speaker -- including 'classical fighting words,' words in current use less 'classical' but equally likely to cause violence, and other disorderly words, including profanity, obscenity and threats."

We are unable to say that the limited scope of the statute as thus construed contravenes the Constitutional right of free expression. It is a statute narrowly drawn and limited to define and punish specific conduct lying within the domain of state power, the use in a public place of words likely to cause a breach of the peace. Cf. Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U. S. 296, 310 U. S. 311; Thornhill v. Alabama,

Page 315 U. S. 574

310 U. S. 88, 310 U. S. 105. This conclusion necessarily disposes of appellant's contention that the statute is so vague and indefinite as to render a conviction thereunder a violation of due process. A statute punishing verbal acts, carefully drawn so as not unduly to impair liberty of expression, is not too vague for a criminal law. Cf. Fox v. Washington , 236 U. S. 277. [Footnote 8]

Nor can we say that the application of the statute to the facts disclosed by the record substantially or unreasonably impinges upon the privilege of free speech. Argument is unnecessary to demonstrate that the appellations "damned racketeer" and "damned Fascist" are epithets likely to provoke the average person to retaliation, and thereby cause a breach of the peace.

The refusal of the state court to admit evidence of provocation and evidence bearing on the truth or falsity of the utterances is open to no Constitutional objection. Whether the facts sought to be proved by such evidence constitute a defense to the charge, or may be shown in mitigation, are questions for the state court to determine. Our function is fulfilled by a determination that the challenged statute, on its face and as applied, doe not contravene the Fourteenth Amendment.

Affirmed.

[Footnote 1]

See also Bridges v. California, 314 U. S. 252; Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U. S. 296, 310 U. S. 303; Thornhill v. Alabama, 310 U. S. 88, 310 U. S. 95; Schneider v. State, 308 U. S. 147, 308 U. S. 160; De Jonge v. Oregon, 299 U. S. 353, 299 U. S. 364; Grosjean v. American Press Co., 297 U. S. 233, 297 U. S. 243; Near v. Minnesota, 283 U. S. 697, 283 U. S. 707; Stromberg v. California, 283 U. S. 359, 283 U. S. 368; Whitney v. California, 274 U. S. 357, 274 U. S. 362, 274 U. S. 371, 274 U. S. 373; Gitlow v. New York, 268 U. S. 652, 268 U. S. 666.

Appellant here pitches his argument on the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

[Footnote 2]

Schenck v. United States, 249 U. S. 47; Whitney v. California, 274 U. S. 357, 274 U. S. 373 (Brandeis, J., concurring); Stromberg v. California, 283 U. S. 359; Near v. Minnesota, 283 U. S. 697; De Jonge v. Oregon, 299 U. S. 353; Herndon v. Lowry, 301 U. S. 242; Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U. S. 296.

[Footnote 3]

The protection of the First Amendment, mirrored in the Fourteenth, is not limited to the Blackstonian idea that freedom of the press means only freedom from restraint prior to publication. Near v. Minnesota, 283 U. S. 697, 283 U. S. 714-715.

[Footnote 4]

Chafee, Free Speech in the United States (1941), 149.

[Footnote 5]

Chafee, op. cit., 150.

[Footnote 6]

Since the complaint charged appellant only with violating the first provision of the statute, the problem of Stromberg v. California, 283 U. S. 359, is not present.

[Footnote 7]

State v. Brown, 68 N.H. 200, 38 A. 731; State v. McConnell, 70 N.H. 294, 47 A. 267.

[Footnote 8]

We do not have here the problem of Lanzetta v. New Jersey, 306 U. S. 451. Even if the interpretative gloss placed on the statute by the court below be disregarded, the statute had been previously construed as intended to preserve the public peace by punishing conduct the direct tendency of which was to provoke the person against whom it was directed to acts of violence. State v. Brown, 68 N.H. 200, 38 A. 731 (1894).

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