Brandenburg v' Ohio

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Brandenburg v. Ohio

• GROUP 6
• Malik, Jose, Grace, Ana

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Background

• In 1969 Clarence Brandenburg, of Ohio, invited a
  reporter from a Cincinnati television station so
  that he would cover a KKK rally in Hamilton
  County.
• When he gave his speech, he spoke against the
  black and the Jewish people.
• He also blamed the President, the Congress, and
  the Supreme Court for suppressing the white race.
• There he spoke about making a march on July 4th
  in Washington.
• Later he was arrested and convicted of supporting
  violence under Ohios criminal syndicalism
  statute.

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Trial Details

• On February 27, 1969 Brandenburg went to court
  with the charge of violating the Ohio criminal
  syndicalism law.
• He claimed that he was being wrongly convicted
  because he was using the first amendment and the
  fourteenth amendment.
• Ohio claimed that he violated Ohios criminal
  syndicalism law which convicted those that would
  partake in sabotage violence or unlawful methods
  of terrorism as a mean of accomplishing
  industrial of political reform and assembling
  with any society group or assemblage of persons
  formed to teach or support the doctrines of
  criminal syndicalism.

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Courts Decision

• At the end of the trail Brandenburg was fined
  1,000 and sentenced to 1 to 10 years and prison.
• However on June 9 1969, the Supreme Court
  overturned this decision saying that his words
  were protected by the first amendment.

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Significance of the Trial

• This trial was a turning point for the US.
• Due to this trial the charges done to people who
  were arrested for their speeches was changed.
• The court said that the first amendment protected
  free speech as long as the person did not
  directly incite unlawful actions.
• With this a new interpretation of the first
  amendment was made where it was alright to have
  freedom of speech as long as the speech doesnt
  cause any violence or great destruction.