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Feiner v. New York | 340 U.S. 315 (1951)

Few things scare police officers more than watching an angry crowd work itself into a dangerous frenzy, especially if it’s being whipped up by angry speakers. Police must balance public safety against the First Amendment rights of the speakers and the audience. An example of how difficult such a situation can be arises in the 1951 United States Supreme Court case of Feiner versus New York.

Irving Feiner was standing on a box on a Syracuse, New York, street corner, speaking to a crowd through a car-mounted loudspeaker. Police officers arrived to find roughly eighty people filling the sidewalk and spreading out onto the street. Feiner denigrated President Truman, the American Legion, and the mayor of Syracuse. He urged African Americans to take up arms and fight for equal rights. Feiner’s audience was becoming agitated, and one onlooker warned the police that if they didn’t stop Feiner, the onlooker would. An officer then approached Feiner and asked him to stop, so that the crowd would disperse. Feiner continued talking, so the officer demanded that Feiner cease. Again, Feiner ignored the officer. After Feiner ignored three requests to cease, officers arrested him.

At a city court bench trial, the judge examined the evidence and witnesses and determined that a clear danger of disorder existed. The trial court judge concluded that police weren’t attempting to suppress Feiner’s expression of his views and opinions.

Feiner was convicted of misdemeanor disorderly conduct after the city court’s bench trial. His conviction was affirmed by the Onondaga County Court and the New York Court of Appeals, the highest state court in New York. The United States Supreme Court then granted Feiner’s cert petition.

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