People v. Rubin

96 Cal.App.3d 968 (1979)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D held a press conference in Los Angeles to protest a planned demonstration and march by the American Nazi Party to take place in Skokie, Illinois. D announced the organization of a counterdemonstration to stop the Nazi march. During the press conference D held up five $100 bills and offered the following reward: 'We are offering five hundred dollars, that I have in my hand, to any member of the community, be he Gentile or Jewish, who kills, maims, or seriously injures a member of the American Nazi Party. This offer is being made on the East Coast, on the West Coast. And if they bring us the ears, we'll make it a thousand dollars. The fact of the matter is that we're deadly serious. This is not said in jest; we are deadly serious.' D was held to answer by the examining magistrate, and an information charged D with solicitation of murder was issued. The trial court found probable cause for D's commitment for trial, in that his statements could be interpreted as solicitation to murder; but the court concluded that the statements were protected as free speech under the First Amendment, in that although they solicited murder, their form and content indicated a desire to attract national media exposure and evidenced a lack of serious intent to solicit the commission of crime. The court ordered the information set aside. P appealed.