Coates v. Cincinnati
United States Supreme Court
402 U.S. 611 (1971)
Relevant factsFree
Coates (defendant) and two others were convicted under a Cincinnati (plaintiff) ordinance making it a crime for three or more people to assemble on a sidewalk and conduct themselves in a manner "annoying to persons passing by." Coates challenged the ordinance as unconstitutionally vague; the state supreme court upheld his conviction, and he petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for review.
IssueFree
Whether an ordinance that prohibits more than three persons from assembling and engaging in annoying conduct on public property is unconstitutionally vague and an impermissible infringement upon the right to free assembly.