Terminiello v. Chicago 337 U.S. 1 (1949)

• Author: Martin Shapiro
• Pages: 2669

Page 2669

Terminiello was convicted of disorderly conduct after a meeting in a private hall outside of which a thousand persons violently protested his anti-Semitic, antiblack, and anticommunist harangue. The Court reversed because the jury had been instructed that it might convict on a finding that Terminiello's speech "invite[d] dispute." This instruction failed to require a finding of CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER of violence. Terminiello frequently is coupled with FEINER V. NEW YORK (1951) as illustrations of the HOSTILE AUDIENCE problem.

MARTIN SHAPIRO

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