Grayned v. City of Rockford
- Decided
- June 26, 1972
- Docket
- No. 70-5106
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 4,586 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- concluding that, although the First Amendment protected wearing a jacket saying "fuck the draft," Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15, 91 S.Ct. 1780, 29 L.Ed.2d 284 (1971 — Heather Wallace, a Minor, by Her Mother and Next Friend, Phyllis Wallace v. The Batavia School District 101, a Municipal Corporation, and James Cliffe (1995)
- holding that the phrase “tends to disturb” the peace in a city noise ordinance was not unconstitutionally vague — Roark & Hardee L.P. v. City of Austin (2005)
- holding that a statute’s words, even when “marked by flexibility and reasonable breadth, rather than meticulous specificity,” are clear based on “what the ordinance as a whole prohibits” — United States v. David Bronstein (2017)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
Mr. Justice Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.
Appellant Richard Grayned was convicted for his part in a demonstration in front of West Senior High School in Rockford, Illinois. Negro students at the school had first presented their grievances to school administrators. When the principal took no action on crucial complaints, a more public demonstration of protest was planned. On April 25, 1969, approximately 200 people — students, their family members, and friends — gathered next to the school grounds. Appellant, whose brother and twin sisters were attending the school, was part of this group. The demonstrators marched around on a sidewalk about 100 feet from the school building, which was set back from the street. Many carried signs which summarized the grievances: “Black cheerleaders to cheer too”; “Black history with black teachers”; “Equal rights, Negro counselors.” Others, without placards, made the “power to the people” sign with their upraised and clenched fists.
In other respects, the evidence at appellant’s trial was sharply contradictory. Government witnesses reported that the demonstrators repeatedly cheered, chanted, baited policemen, and made other noise that was audible in the school; that hundreds of students were distracted from their school activities and lined the classroom windows to watch the demonstration; that some demonstrators successfully yelled to their friends to leave the school building and join the demonstration; that uncontrolled latenesses after period changes in the school were far greater than usual, with late students admitting that they had been watching the demonstration; and that, in general, orderly school procedure was disrupted. Defense witnesses claimed that the demonstrators were at all times quiet and orderly; that they did not seek to violate the law, but only to “make [*106] a point”; that the only noise was made by policemen using loudspeakers; that almost no students were noticeable at the schoolhouse windows; and that orderly school procedure was not disrupted.
Cite this
Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104 (1972)Read the full opinion
Reading the library on this site uses your account’s daily calls, the same as the connector and the API. The Free plan needs no card. Calls a day on each plan.