Make No Law Episode One: Fighting Words

In Episode One, with the launch of the Make No Law podcast, I look at "fighting words" the exception to the First Amendment established in the 1942 case Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire. What got Walter Chaplinsky so riled up, and why were the cops so eager to prosecute him for an inconsequential outburst? Listen to find out.

On iTunes

Here are some of the documents and cases discussed in the episode:

Supreme Court decision in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire

The Billy Gobitas letter

Supreme Court decision in Minersville School District v. Gobitas

Judging Jehovah's Witnesses:
Religious Prosecution and the Dawn of the Rights Revolution, by Shawn Francis Peters

1941 ACLU pamphlet "The Persecution Jehovah's Witness"

Supreme Court opinion in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette

Supreme Court decision in Cohen v. California

Supreme Court decision in Texas v. Johnson

Supreme Court decision in Snyder v. Phelps