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Constitutional Law Keyed to Feldman
Virginia v. Black
Citation:
538 U.S. 343 (2003)Facts
In August 1998, Barry Black led a Ku Klux Klan rally on private property in Virginia, during which participants made racist statements and burned a 25-30 foot cross. Black was arrested under Virginia’s cross-burning statute. In a separate incident in May 1998, Richard Elliott and Jonathan O’Mara attempted to burn a cross on the yard of James Jubilee, an African-American neighbor who had complained about gunfire from Elliott’s backyard. All three defendants were convicted under Virginia’s statute prohibiting cross burning with intent to intimidate. The statute included a provision stating that “any such burning of a cross shall be prima facie evidence of an intent to intimidate.” The Supreme Court of Virginia consolidated the cases and held the statute unconstitutional, finding it discriminated on the basis of content and viewpoint.
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