Concurrence Harlan | ||
Citations 394 U.S. 111 (more)89 S. Ct. 946; 22 L. Ed. 2d 134; 1969 U.S. LEXIS 2295 Majority Warren, joined by unanimous Concurrence Black, joined by Douglas | ||
Gregory v. Chicago, 394 U.S. 111 (1969), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court overturned the disorderly conduct charges against Dick Gregory and others for peaceful demonstrations in Chicago.
Contents
Background
Social activists, including comedian Dick Gregory, protested against school segregation in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Twelve years earlier, in Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional. The protesters marched from Chicago's city hall to the mayor's residence. After concluding the march, bystanders began to act unruly, and police asked the protesters to disperse. The protesters did not disperse and were consequently arrested and convicted for demonstrating. The protesters appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court (39 Ill. 2d 47, 233 N. E. 2d 422 (1968)) but that court upheld their conviction. Aided by the ACLU, the protesters appealed to US Supreme Court.
Opinion of the Court
The US Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, overturned the conviction for several reasons:
Justice Hugo Black, in a concurring opinion, argued that arresting demonstrators as a consequence of unruly behavior of bystanders would amount to a "heckler's veto."