Henry v. City of Rock Hill

Background

A group of people peacefully gathered in front of the City Hall to protest segregation. They carried signs and sang patriotic and religious songs. White onlookers came, but no violence occurred and traffic was not disrupted. After about fifteen minutes, police ordered the group to disperse; the demonstrators did not leave and were arrested for failure to disperse and convicted of breach-of-the-peace. The U.S. Supreme Court had previously vacated the judgment and remanded the case for reconsideration in light of Edwards v. South Carolina, but the South Carolina Supreme Court concluded Edwards did not control and reaffirmed the convictions.

Reasoning

The central question was whether a State can criminally punish people for peacefully expressing unpopular views. The Supreme Court explained that Edwards v. South Carolina and Fields v. South Carolina control here: the Fourteenth Amendment forbids making peaceful expression a crime. The opinion noted that the state had defined the offense in language permitting conviction when speech "stirred people to anger, invited public dispute, or brought about a condition of unrest." The Court found the state’s offense too vague, held the protesters’ speech was protected, and reversed the convictions.

Real world impact

The decision prevents states from using broadly written breach-of-the-peace laws to punish nonviolent protesters who assemble and speak without causing violence or traffic problems. State courts must follow the constitutional rule that peaceful, unpopular expression cannot be made a crime, and the Supreme Court’s reversal here is a final ruling in this case that clarifies those protections under the Supremacy Clause.