NORWELL v. CITY OF CINCINNATI

Legal Principle at Issue

Whether a person's peaceful, vocal protest of their treatment by a police officer (while acting under a disorderly conduct ordinance) is protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments, thereby rendering an arrest for that behavior unconstitutional.

Action

Reversed. Petitioning party received a favorable disposition.

Facts/Syllabus

Cincinnati's disorderly conduct ordinance operated to deprive petitioner of his constitutionally protected freedom of speech, where it appeared that he was arrested and convicted merely because he verbally and negatively protested the arresting officer's treatment of him, and there was no use of abusive language or fighting words.