United States et al. v. Grace et al. (461 U.S. 171)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 20, 1983 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 461 U.S. 171 · 103 S. Ct. 1702
- Decided
- April 20, 1983
- Term
- October Term 1982
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice White
- Issue area
- First Amendment
- Disposition
- Affirmed and reversed (or vacated) in part
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
- Constitutional ruling
- Federal law held unconstitutional
Opinion excerpt
Justice White delivered the opinion of the Court. In this case we must determine whether 40 U. S. C. § 13k, which prohibits, among other things, the “display [of] any flag, banner, or device designed or adapted to bring into pub-he notice any party, organization, or movement” in the United States Supreme Court building and on its grounds, violates the First Amendment. HH In May 1978 appellee Thaddeus Zywicki, standing on the sidewalk in front of the Supreme Court building, distributed leaflets to passersby. The leaflets were reprints of a letter to the editor of the Washington Post from a United States Senator concerning the removal of unfit judges from the bench. A Supreme Court police officer approached Zywicki and told him, accurately, that Title 40 of the United States Code prohibited the distribution of leaflets on the Supreme Court grounds, which includes the sidewalk. Zywicki left. In January 1980 Zywicki again visited the sidewalk in front of the Court to distribute pamphlets containing information about forthcoming meetings and events concerning “the oppressed peoples of Central America.” Zywicki again was approached by a Court police officer and was informed that the distribution of leaflets on the Court grounds was prohibited by law. The officer indicated that Zywicki would be arrested if the leafletting continued. Zywicki left. Zywicki reappeared in February 1980…
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