Brown v. Hartlage - Significance, Free Speech Or Buying Votes?, The Right To Be Wrong, Judgment And A Lone Dissenter

Petitioner

Carl Brown

Respondent

Earl Hartlage

Petitioner's Claim

That the Kentucky Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibited candidates for public office in that state from promising any material benefit to voters if they were elected, was a violation of the First Amendment's protection of free speech.

Justices for the Court

Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Jr. (writing for the Court), Warren E. Burger, Thurgood Marshall, Sandra Day O'Connor, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., John Paul Stevens, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

William H. Rehnquist

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

20 January 1982

Decision

That the Kentucky Corrupt Practices Act constituted a limitation of free speech as guaranteed under the First Amendment.

Related Cases

• Sparks v. Boggs, 339 S.W.2d. 480 (1960).
• Mills v. Alabama, 384 U.S. 214 (1966).

Further Readings

• Murphy, Walter F. et al., American Constitutional Interpretation, 2nd ed. Westbury, NY: Foundation Press, 1995.