National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie

National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie, 432 U.S. 43 (1977), arising out of what is sometimes referred to as the Skokie Affair, is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States dealing with freedom of speech and freedom of assembly . This case is commonly reviewed in constitutional law classes. Related court decisions are captioned Skokie v. NSPA, Collin v. Smith and Smith v. Collin. The Supreme Court ruled 5–4, per curiam ,

granting certiorari and reversing and remanding the Illinois Supreme Court's denial to lift the lower court's injunction on the NSPA's march_._ The ruling dictated that when citizens assert that their speech is being restrained, the matter must be reviewed immediately by the judiciary. By requiring the state court to consider the neo-Nazis' appeal without delay, the Supreme Court decision allowed the National Socialist Party of America to march in Skokie, although they did not do so.

Contents

• 1 Background

• 2 Preceding lower-court cases

• 3 Supreme Court ruling and subsequent cases

• 4 Effect of the decision

• 5 Cultural reference

• 6 See also

• 7 References

• 8 Further reading

• 9 External links

Background

(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Socialist_Party_of_America_v._Village_of_Skokie&action=edit&section=1 "Edit section: Background")

Before the Skokie Affair, Frank Collin and his neo-Nazi group, the NSPA, would regularly hold demonstrations in Marquette Park , where the NSPA was headquartered. However, the Chicago authorities would eventually block these plans by requiring the NSPA to post a $350,000 public-safety insurance bond and by banning political demonstrations in the park.

While Collin filed a lawsuit against the city of Chicago for a violation of his First Amendment rights, he realized that his case would be delayed in the courts for far longer than he was willing to wait to begin marching again.

On October 4, 1976, Collin sent letters to the park districts of the North Shore suburbs of Chicago, requesting permits for the NSPA to hold a white-power demonstration.

While some suburbs chose to ignore his letters, Skokie —home to a significant number of Jewish people, many of them survivors of the Holocaust

—chose to respond. At first, the Skokie mayor and village council intended to allow the NSPA to demonstrate and intended to ignore them in order to afford the NSPA as little publicity as possible.

The Jewish community found this tactic unacceptable and held meetings to discuss the matter. The mayor and the village council heard their concerns, and on April 27, 1977, ordered village attorney Harvey Schwartz to seek an injunction.

In addition to filing an injunction, the village of Skokie passed three ordinances on May 2, 1977, in an attempt to prevent all future events similar to that which the NSPA wished to stage. One of the ordinances prohibited wearing military-style uniforms during demonstrations,

and the two other ordinances prohibited the distribution of material containing hate speech and required a $350,000 insurance bond to hold a demonstration.

These ordinances effectively prevented the NSPA from holding the event.

Collin used both the injunction and ordinances as an opportunity to claim infringement upon his First Amendment rights and subsequently wanted to protest in Skokie for the NSPA's right to free speech. On March 20, 1977, Collin notified the chief of police and park district of the NSPA's intention to protest for their right to free speech on May 1.

In the letters, he stated that about 30–50 members planned to demonstrate outside of the village hall and that they planned to show signs demanding free speech for white men, including the phrases "White Free Speech", "Free Speech for White Americans" and "Free Speech for the White Men".

Collin sent another letter that contained the same details on June 22, 1977. The letter also stated that Collin was planning to stage a protest on the afternoon of July 4.

Preceding lower-court cases

(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Socialist_Party_of_America_v._Village_of_Skokie&action=edit&section=2 "Edit section: Preceding lower-court cases")

The case began in Cook County court when the Skokie town government successfully sued, under the caption Village of Skokie v. NSPA, for an injunction to bar the demonstration. On April 28, 1977, the town filed suit in Cook County circuit court for an emergency injunction against the march to be held on May 1, 1977. The injunction was granted, prohibiting marchers at the rally from wearing Nazi uniforms or displaying swastikas . On behalf of the NSPA, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged the injunction. The ACLU assigned civil rights attorneys David Goldberger

and Burton Joseph to Collin's cases

and argued that the injunction violated the First Amendment rights of the marchers to express themselves. The ACLU challenge was unsuccessful at the lower-court level.

The ACLU appealed on behalf of NSPA, but both the [Illinois Appellate Court](https://en.wikipedia.org/wi

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