TALLEY v. CALIFORNIA

Legal Principle at Issue

Whether a Los Angeles city ordinance forbidding distribution of anonymous handbills violated the First Amendment.

Action

The Supreme Court declared the ordinance was unconstitutional, holding that it was overbroad and not narrowly tailored to its suggested purpose of “identify[ing] those responsible for fraud, false advertising and libel.” In his opinion for the Court, Justice Hugo Black stated that “[a]nonymous pamphlets, leaflets, brochures and even books have played an important role in the progress of mankind,” highlighting the importance of these works in securing American independence.

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Facts/Syllabus

The Supreme Court has consistently upheld the right to engage in anonymous speech. In the 1960 case Talley v. California, civil rights activist Manuel Talley was arrested and fined after distributing handbills on a sidewalk in Los Angeles. The handbills called for the boycott of merchants who carried products from manufacturers who refused to extend equal employment opportunities to racial minorities. Though the handbills included the name of the organization Talley was representing, law enforcement officers found them to be in violation of a Los Angeles City ordinance banning the distribution of handbills without an author’s name.