Cohen v. California

Cohen v. California
Argued February 22, 1971
Decided June 7, 1971
Full case namePaul Robert Cohen, Appellant v. State of California
Citations403 U.S. 15 (more)
91 S. Ct. 1780; 29 L.2d 284; 1971 U.S. LEXIS 32
ArgumentOral argument
Case history
PriorDefendant 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
SubsequentRehearing 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
MajorityHarlan, joined by Douglas, Brennan, Stewart, Marshall
DissentBlackmun, 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."