Cohen v. California

Cohen v. California
Cohen v. California
	Supreme Court of the United States
Argued February 22, 1971; Decided June 7, 1971
Full case name	Paul Robert Cohen, Appellant v. State of California
Citations	403 U.S. 15 (more) 91 S. Ct. 1780; 29 L.2d 284; 1971 U.S. LEXIS 32
Argument	Oral argument
Case history
Prior	Defendant convicted, Los Angeles Municipal Court; affirmed, 81 Cal. Rptr. 503 (Cal. Ct. App. 1969); rehearing denied, Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District 11-13-69; review denied, Supreme Court of California, 12-17-69
Subsequent	Rehearing denied, 404 U.S. 876 (1971).
Holding
	The First Amendment, as applied through the Fourteenth, prohibits states from making the public display of a single four-letter expletive a criminal offense, without a more specific and compelling reason than a general tendency to disturb the peace. The First Amendment places a heavy burden on the justification of prior restraint in order to curtail free speech. Court of Appeal of California reversed.
Court membership
	Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices Hugo Black · William O. Douglas; John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr.; Potter Stewart · Byron White; Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
Case opinions
Majority	Harlan, joined by Douglas, Brennan, Stewart, Marshall
Dissent	Blackmun, joined by Burger, Black; White (in part)
Laws applied
	U.S. Const. amends. I, XIV;; Cal. Penal Code § 415

Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court holding that the First Amendment prevented the conviction of Paul Robert Cohen for the crime of disturbing the peace by wearing a jacket displaying "Fuck the Draft" in the public corridors of a California courthouse.

The Court ultimately found that displaying a mere four-letter word was not sufficient justification for allowing states to restrict free speech and that free speech can be restricted only under severe circumstances beyond offensiveness. The ruling set a precedent used in future cases concerning the power of states to regulate free speech in order to maintain public civility.

The Court describes free expression as a "powerful medicine" in such pluralistic society like the United States. It is intended to "remove government restraints" from public discussion to "produce a more capable citizenry" and preserve individual choices which is an imperative for "our political system."

Cohen v. California
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued February 22, 1971 Decided June 7, 1971
Full case name	Paul Robert Cohen, Appellant v. State of California
Citations	403 U.S. 15 (more) 91 S. Ct. 1780; 29 L.2d 284; 1971 U.S. LEXIS 32
Argument	Oral argument
Case history
Prior	Defendant convicted, Los Angeles Municipal Court; affirmed, 81 Cal. Rptr. 503 (Cal. Ct. App. 1969); rehearing denied, Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District 11-13-69; review denied, Supreme Court of California, 12-17-69
Subsequent	Rehearing denied, 404 U.S. 876 (1971).
Holding
The First Amendment, as applied through the Fourteenth, prohibits states from making the public display of a single four-letter expletive a criminal offense, without a more specific and compelling reason than a general tendency to disturb the peace. The First Amendment places a heavy burden on the justification of prior restraint in order to curtail free speech. Court of Appeal of California reversed.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices Hugo Black · William O. Douglas John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr. Potter Stewart · Byron White Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
Case opinions
Majority	Harlan, joined by Douglas, Brennan, Stewart, Marshall
Dissent	Blackmun, joined by Burger, Black; White (in part)
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amends. I, XIV; Cal. Penal Code § 415