Brandenburg v. Ohio
United States Supreme Court
395 U.S. 444 (1969)
Relevant factsFree
Brandenburg (defendant), a Ku Klux Klan leader, was convicted under Ohio's Criminal Syndicalism Act for a filmed rally where he burned a cross and made derogatory remarks about Black and Jewish people while advocating in the abstract for violence as a means of political change. He challenged the statute as violating his First Amendment right to free speech.
IssueFree
Whether a state statute that criminalizes the abstract advocacy of violence or unlawful methods to achieve political change violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments.