Gooding v. Wilson

It seems strange, indeed, that in this day a man may say to a police officer, who is attempting to restore access to a public building, “White son of a bitch, I’ll kill you” and “You son of a bitch, I’ll choke you to death,” and say to an accompanying officer, “You son of a bitch, if you ever put your hands on me again, I’ll cut you all to pieces,” and yet constitutionally cannot be prosecuted and convicted under a state statute that makes it a misdemeanor to “use to or of another, and in his presence . . . opprobrious words or abusive language, tending to cause a breach of the peace . . . .”…