Whitney v. California

Whitney v. California
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued October 6, 1925 Reargued March 18, 1926 Decided May 16, 1927
Full case name	Charlotte Anita Whitney v. People of the State of California
Citations	274 U.S. 357 (more) 47 S. Ct. 641; 71 L. Ed. 1095; 1927 U.S. LEXIS 1011
Case history
Prior	Defendant convicted, Superior Court of Alameda County, California; affirmed, 207 P. 698 (Cal. Ct.App, 1922); review denied, Supreme Court of California, 6-24-22; dismissed for want of jurisdiction, 269 U.S. 530 (1925); rehearing granted, 269 U.S. 538 (1925)
Subsequent	None
Holding
Defendant's conviction under California's criminal syndicalism statute for membership in the Communist Labor Party did not violate her free speech rights as protected under the Fourteenth Amendment, because states may constitutionally prohibit speech tending to incite crime, disturb the public peace, or threaten the overthrow of government by unlawful means.
Court membership
Chief Justice William H. Taft Associate Justices Oliver W. Holmes Jr. · Willis Van Devanter James C. McReynolds · Louis Brandeis George Sutherland · Pierce Butler Edward T. Sanford · Harlan F. Stone
Case opinions
Majority	Sanford, joined by Taft, Van Devanter, McReynolds, Sutherland, Butler, Stone
Concurrence	Brandeis, joined by Holmes
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. XIV; California Criminal Syndicalism Act
Overruled by
Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969)

Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357 (1927), was a United States Supreme Court decision upholding the conviction of an individual who had engaged in speech that raised a clear and present danger to society.^[1] While the majority of the Supreme Court Justices voted to uphold the conviction, the ruling has become an important free speech precedent due a concurring opinion by Justice Louis Brandeis recommending new perspectives on criticism of the government by citizens.^[2] The ruling was explicitly overruled by Brandenburg v. Ohio in 1969.^[3]