Collin v. Smith

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
581 F.2d 1197 (1978)

ELI5:

Rule of Law:

The First Amendment prohibits a municipality from enacting ordinances that criminalize public demonstrations containing symbols and messages that incite racial or religious hatred, as such restrictions are unconstitutional content-based regulations on speech and prior restraints on assembly.

Facts:

The National Socialist Party of America (NSPA), a Nazi political group led by Frank Collin, planned a public demonstration in the Village of Skokie, Illinois.
The NSPA's ideology includes the beliefs that Black people are biologically inferior and Jewish people hold excessive power.
NSPA members wear uniforms reminiscent of the German Nazi Party, including a swastika emblem.
The Village of Skokie has a large Jewish population, including several thousand survivors of the Nazi holocaust.
In response to the NSPA's planned march, Skokie enacted three ordinances.
Ordinance 994 required a permit for any assembly of over 50 people, which mandated applicants obtain $300,000 in public liability insurance and $50,000 in property damage insurance. It also forbade permits for assemblies that would incite hatred based on race or religion.
Ordinance 995 criminalized the dissemination of materials, including clothing and symbols, that incite hatred based on race, national origin, or religion.
Ordinance 996 prohibited public demonstrations by political party members wearing military-style uniforms.
Collin and the NSPA applied for a permit, stating 30-50 demonstrators would wear uniforms with swastikas and carry placards with messages like 'White Free Speech'.

Procedural Posture:

After the NSPA announced its intention to march, the Village of Skokie obtained a preliminary injunction in state court prohibiting the demonstration.
The Illinois appellate courts refused to stay the injunction, but the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a stay.
The Illinois Supreme Court subsequently reversed the injunction in its entirety.
Collin and the NSPA filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against the three newly enacted Skokie ordinances.
The district court granted relief to the NSPA, finding the challenged ordinances unconstitutional.
The Village of Skokie, as the defendant, appealed the district court's decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

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Issue:

Do village ordinances that prohibit public displays inciting racial or religious hatred, ban demonstrations in military-style uniforms, and require demonstrators to obtain substantial liability insurance violate the First Amendment's guarantees of free speech and assembly?

Opinions:

Majority - Pell, Circuit Judge

Yes, the ordinances violate the First Amendment. The government cannot restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content. The NSPA's intended activities, including wearing symbolic armbands and marching with placards, fall within the ambit of the First Amendment. The Village's ordinances are not permissible time, place, or manner restrictions because they are based entirely on the content of the demonstration. The speech does not fall into unprotected categories such as obscenity or 'fighting words,' as the Village did not argue there was a threat of imminent violence. The argument that the march would inflict 'psychic trauma' on residents is not a sufficient justification to suppress speech, as the First Amendment protects expression even if it is offensive to its hearers. Since residents are not a captive audience and can avoid the demonstration, their privacy interests do not outweigh the NSPA's free speech rights.

Concurring - Harlington Wood, Jr., Circuit Judge

Yes, the ordinances are unconstitutional. In addition to the majority's reasoning, the ordinances are also unconstitutionally vague and overbroad as criminal statutes. Recognizing the full scope of the First Amendment does not compel anyone to listen to the speech. Creating an exception for these specific circumstances, however tempting, would set a dangerous and unmanageable precedent that could be used to silence other speakers in the future.

Concurring-in-part-and-dissenting-in-part - Sprecher, Circuit Judge

No, the insurance requirement of Ordinance 994 is a constitutional manner restriction, although the other ordinances are invalid. The insurance requirement is a facially neutral regulation that serves the significant governmental interest of protecting public safety and property. This interest is unrelated to the suppression of expression. The fact that the NSPA, as a controversial group, finds it difficult to obtain insurance demonstrates the validity of the Village's concern, rather than the unconstitutionality of the ordinance. Furthermore, the court should question whether the NSPA's conduct, in this specific context, qualifies for First Amendment protection at all, as it may constitute unprotected 'fighting words' or group libel under the precedent of Beauharnais v. Illinois.

Analysis:

This case is a landmark First Amendment decision that strongly affirms the principle of content neutrality. It establishes that even hateful and offensive speech, such as that of the Nazi party, is protected from government censorship unless it falls into a narrow, unprotected category like incitement to imminent violence. The ruling clarifies that the potential for emotional harm or 'psychic trauma' to listeners is not a sufficient justification for suppressing speech, drawing a firm line against a 'heckler's veto' or a veto based on listener sensitivity. This precedent makes it extremely difficult for municipalities to use ordinances to prevent demonstrations by unpopular or extremist groups based on the message they convey.

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