June 9, 1969: The Supreme Court overturns an Ohio law banning the use of violent speech

Thursday 9 June 2011

The Supreme Court ruled in the case of Brandenburg v. Ohio that inflammatory speech is not punishable by law unless directed to incite imminent lawless action. The case involved Clarence Brandenburg, a Ku Klux Klan leader in Ohio who was arrested under Ohio’s Criminal Syndicalism statute after a speech he made at a KKK rally. The rally was covered by a Cincinnati news station, which Brandenburg had personally invited. The Ohio Supreme Court originally rejected his appeal, which claimed that the Ohio statute violated his First and 14th Amendment right to freedom of speech. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, reversed Brandenburg’s conviction on this basis.