Wright v. Georgia

Background

Six young Black men were peacefully playing basketball in Daffin Park, a city-owned recreation area that the record said was customarily used only by whites. A white woman told police they were there; officers ordered the youths to leave and then arrested them after the youths complied. The prosecution called four witnesses and no one contradicted the others. The defendants were convicted under a Georgia breach-of-the-peace law and sentenced to fines or jail. State court proceedings also involved a dispute over whether the defendants had properly preserved their constitutional objections for appeal.

Reasoning

The Court focused on whether the statute and the officers’ orders gave fair notice that playing basketball could be criminal and whether enforcement was lawful. The record showed no disorderly conduct, no posted or printed park rule applying to older users, and officers who admitted one reason for removal was that the players were Black. The Court found the officers’ command was tainted by racial exclusion and that the statute, as applied, did not give adequate warning of criminal liability. Because the convictions rested on vague language and discriminatory enforcement, they violated the Fourteenth Amendment.

Real world impact

The Court reversed the convictions and blocked punishment based on a vague law applied to peaceful activity and on racially motivated exclusion. The ruling limits prosecutions that rest on uncertain rules or hypothetical crowd reactions and requires clear notice and nondiscriminatory enforcement before people can be removed or punished in public parks.