Cohen Vs California Essay

Although the 1970s are greatly remembered as a decade filled with social influence, personal freedom, and a nation-wide cultural rebirth, they also presented a tense time period of American history. Civil unrest heightened at the United States entry into the Vietnam War, and as expected, protests in various shapes and sizes broke out across the country. However, one particular form of protest proved so important that the protester found himself before the United States Supreme Court in summer of 1971. The protester is also known as Paul Robert Cohen, and the case is also known as Cohen v. California. The decision that resulted from the case positively impacted America as it upheld the right of the People to voice their ire on governmental decisions without fearing law infringement, so long as violence is not the primary goal.

Summoned to appear as a witness, Paul Cohen walked through the Los Angeles County Courthouse wearing a jacket that had the words “Fuck the draft” embroidered on it. According to Cornell Law School, Cohen was convicted of violating California Penal Code 415, which prohibits

California: A 40 Year Retrospective from Inside the Court, in which it is established that Cohen was wrongly convicted under both the “time, place, and manner” and the “fighting words” doctrines. Respectively, they state that the government can limit speech based on the general setting of the occasion and that aimed personal insults are unprotected by the 1st Amendment. However, these were quickly deemed irrelevant to the case, because the California statute had no specific regulation on time, place, and manner when it came to conduct and courthouses, and that the expletive on Cohen’s jacket was not directed to anyone in particular. Consequently, expression rights of American citizens has been thoroughly defined when it comes to the use of profane language, which in turn strengthens the