State v. Johnson

For directing racist, obscene, and homophobic insults at the occupants of a car — over an amplified public address system, in stop-and-go traffic, and for upward of five minutes — defendant was convicted of violating ORS 166.065(1)(a)(B). That statute makes it a crime intentionally to harass or annoy another person by “[p]ublicly insulting such other person by abusive words or gestures in a manner intended and likely to provoke a violent response.” Defendant demurred to the indictment on the ground that the statute on its face violates the free expression guarantee in Article I, section 8, of…