Herndon v. Lowry
E615009
Herndon v. Lowry was a 1937 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned the conviction of a Black Communist organizer under Georgia’s insurrection statute, strengthening First Amendment protections for political advocacy.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Herndon v. Lowry canonical | 1 |
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
U.S. Supreme Court case
ⓘ
criminal law case ⓘ |
| areaOfLaw |
civil liberties
ⓘ
constitutional law ⓘ criminal law ⓘ |
| citation |
301 U.S. 242
ⓘ
57 S. Ct. 732 ⓘ 81 L. Ed. 1066 ⓘ |
| constitutionalProvision |
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| court | Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ |
| decisionDate | 1937-04-26 ⓘ |
| factSummary | Angelo Herndon was convicted in Georgia for possessing Communist literature and organizing Black and white workers, alleged to advocate insurrection. NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| geographicFocus | Fulton County, Georgia NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| holding |
Mere advocacy of abstract doctrine, without incitement to imminent lawless action, cannot be criminalized under the Georgia insurrection statute as applied.
ⓘ
The conviction of Angelo Herndon under Georgia’s insurrection statute violated constitutional protections for freedom of speech and due process. ⓘ |
| impact |
limited the use of broad insurrection and sedition statutes against political organizers
ⓘ
strengthened constitutional protection for radical and unpopular political speech ⓘ |
| jurisdiction |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| languageOfProceedings | English ⓘ |
| legalIssue |
First Amendment freedom of speech
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
due process under the Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ political advocacy ⓘ |
| majorityOpinionBy | Justice Owen J. Roberts NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| outcome | conviction reversed ⓘ |
| partyAffiliationOfPetitioner | Communist Party USA NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| petitioner | Angelo Herndon NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| petitionerDescription | Black Communist organizer ⓘ |
| precedentFor |
expanded protection for political advocacy under the First Amendment
ⓘ
limits on state power to criminalize radical political speech ⓘ |
| proceduralPosture | review of a criminal conviction under a state insurrection statute ⓘ |
| relatedCase |
Brandenburg v. Ohio
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Gitlow v. New York NERFINISHED ⓘ Whitney v. California NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
clear and present danger test
ⓘ
incitement standard ⓘ |
| respondent | Lowry NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| respondentRole | Fulton County, Georgia, law enforcement official ⓘ |
| state | Georgia ⓘ |
| stateLawInvolved | Georgia insurrection statute ⓘ |
| term | 1936 Term ⓘ |
| topic |
Communist Party activity
ⓘ
freedom of speech ⓘ political dissent ⓘ racial justice organizing ⓘ |
| vote | 5–4 ⓘ |
| yearDecided | 1937 ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.