Rosenfeld v. New Jersey

408 U.S. 901 (1972)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

D used profane language at a public school board meeting. D used the adjective ‘Mother fucker’ on four different occasions while concluding his remarks” to an audience of about 150 people that included about 40 children and 25 women at a public school board meeting. D was prosecuted and convicted under a New Jersey statute which provides: 'Any person who utters loud and offensive or profane or indecent language in any public street or other public place, public conveyance, or place to which the public is invited … is a disorderly person.' N.J. Rev. Stat. § 2A:170-29 (1) (1971). The Supreme Court of New Jersey limited the statute's coverage as follows: The words must be spoken loudly, in a public place and must be of such a nature as to be likely to incite the hearer to an immediate breach of the peace or to be likely, in the light of the gender and age of the listener and the setting of the utterance, to affect the sensibilities of a hearer. The words must be spoken with the intent to have the above effect or with a reckless disregard of the probability of the above consequences. The Supreme Court eventually granted certiorari.