City of Houston v. Hill
United States Supreme Court
482 U.S. 451 (1987)
Raymond Hill (defendant) was arrested and charged under a Houston (plaintiff) ordinance criminalizing any conduct that interrupts a police officer performing his duties; he was acquitted at trial and then sued to challenge the ordinance as unconstitutional on its face and as applied. The city conceded that the physical-interference portions of the ordinance were preempted by state law, leaving only the verbal-interruption provisions at issue. The district court rejected Hill's as-applied challenge, but the court of appeals reversed.
Whether an ordinance that criminalizes constitutionally protected speech and vests excessive enforcement discretion with law enforcement officers is unconstitutionally overbroad.