On appeal, the Supreme Court invalidated the ordinance by an 8-1 vote.
Justice William J. Brennan Jr., who authored the Court’s opinion, wrote that “the First Amendment protects a significant amount of verbal criticism and challenge directed at police officers.”
He added that the “freedom of individuals verbally to oppose or challenge police action without thereby risking arrest is one of the principal characteristics by which we distinguish a free nation from a police state.” He reasoned that the ordinance could not be read only to prohibit disorderly conduct or fighting words.