Go to next caseIrving Feiner was arrested on the evening of March 8th, 1949, for disorderly conduct. Feiner had been speaking out against President Truman, the American Legion, and local officials atop a wooden box on a street corner. A crowd of between seventy and eighty people gathered to watch as he urged blacks to violently oppose the injustices of society. The crowd was of a mixed opinion and became more and more unruly, until the police arrested Feiner and broke up the gathering. The police, prior to the arrest, had asked him three times to get off the podium, and he had refused each time, claiming his First Amendment right to free speech. Feiner was convicted and appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that the arrest did not hamper Feiner's right to free speech, stating "it is one thing to say that the police cannot be used as an instrument of suppression of unpopular views, and another to say that...they are powerless to prevent a breach of the peace." The Court had limited free speech to all but those instances when there was clear and present danger.
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