Feiner v. New York

Summary

The Court affirmed Feiner’s disorderly-conduct conviction, holding that the police could stop his street-corner speech when the crowd’s escalating unrest created a clear danger of disorder and Feiner deliberately refused repeated police orders to stop. The Court concluded that he was punished for the reaction his conduct actually produced and for defying reasonable efforts to preserve public order, not for the content of his political criticism. Justice Black dissented, and Justice Douglas, joined by Justice Minton, would have reversed because the police failed to protect Feiner from hostile audience members rather than suppressing his speech.