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Constitutional Law Keyed to Choper
Beauharnais v. Illinois
Citation:
343 U.S. 250 (1952)Facts
Joseph Beauharnais was president of the White Circle League of America, an organization that opposed racial integration. In January 1950, he organized the distribution of leaflets on Chicago street corners that called for “one million self-respecting white people” to unite against the “encroachment, harassment and invasion” by Black people. The leaflets contained inflammatory language attributing “aggressions, rapes, robberies, knives, guns and marijuana” to Black citizens and warning against “mongrelization” of the white race. The leaflets included applications for membership in the White Circle League. Beauharnais was charged with violating Illinois’ group libel statute, which prohibited publications portraying “depravity, criminality, unchastity, or lack of virtue” of citizens based on race, color, creed, or religion. At trial, the judge instructed the jury that they should find Beauharnais guilty if they determined he had published the lithograph in question. The jury convicted him, and he was fined $200.
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