Tennessee Supreme Court Rules Against Defendant Arrested for Belligerent Conduct

In deciding to consider a defendant's appeal in a recent case called State v. Mitchell, the Tennessee Supreme Court took it upon itself to decide whether or not an individual can be charged with disorderly conduct for words that do not amount to "fighting words" which essentially means words that do not incite violence or otherwise threaten someone in some substantial way. To make a long story short, the defendant in this case was arrested for causing a scene and allegedly acting aggressively toward a police officer at an anti-immigration rally, including calling the officer derogatory racial slurs. The defendant was convicted of disorderly conduct and appealed, asserting among other things that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protected his right to use derogatory slurs toward the officer.

The Defendant lost his appeal and the Tennessee Supreme Court agreed to hear his case, eventually ruling against him as well while artfully dodging the need to address whether the First Amendment actually protected the defendant's right to insult the police officer. The defendant, like many Americans, was seemingly operating under the assumption that the First Amendment freedom of speech protection protects an individual's right to say anything they want to anyone, anywhere, which is simply not true. In fact, the First Amendment only insulates certain types of speech from criminal prosecution and some areas of speech, including obscenity, sedition, fighting words, words that incite panic, and defamation, have been explicitly exempted from First Amendment protection. While the circumstances surrounding the speech will determine how the words used are classified for First Amendment purposes, it is a fairly safe bet that if you are acting in an aggressive manner while tossing racial slurs at a police officer at an anti-immigration rally, you are not likely to emerge from your criminal trial victorious on First Amendment grounds.

Unfortunately, individuals often say things or express themselves in ways that cause those persons to find themselves behind bars or facing criminal charges. Contact a skilled criminal defense attorney to discuss your charges and whether the type of expression for which you were charged is protected by the laws of this state or nation.