Court Opinion

ID: 9425467
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:14:47.857036+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:55.695870
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Rehnquist,
with whom The Chief Justice and Mr. Justice Blackmun join,
dissenting.
The Court’s per curiam opinion rendered today aptly demonstrates the difficulties inherent in substituting a different complex of factual inferences for the inferences reached by the courts below. Since it is not clear to me that the Court has a sufficient basis for its action, I dissent.
It should be noted at the outset that the case was tried de novo in the Superior Court of Indiana upon a stipulated set of facts, and, therefore, the record is perhaps unusually colorless and devoid of life. Nevertheless, certain facts are clearly established. Appellant was arrested during the course of an antiwar demonstration conducted at Indiana University in May 1970. The demonstration was of sufficient size and vigor to require the summoning of police, and both the Sheriff’s Department and the Bloomington Police Department were asked to help university officials and police remove demonstrators blocking doorways to a campus building. At the time the sheriff arrived, “approximately 200-300 persons” were assembled at that particular building. •
The doorways eventually were cleared of demonstrators, but, in the process, two students were placed under arrest. *110This action did not go unnoticed by the demonstrators. As the stipulation notes, “[i]n apparent response to these arrests, about 100-150 of the persons who had gathered as spectators went into Indiana Avenue in front of Bryan Hall and in front of the patrol car in which the two arrestees had been placed.” Thus, by contrast to the majority’s somewhat antiseptic description of this massing as being “[i]n the course of the demonstration,” the demonstrators’ presence in the street was not part of the normal “course of the demonstration” but could reasonably be construed as an attempt to intimidate and impede the arresting officers. Furthermore, as the stipulation also notes, the demonstrators “did not respond to verbal directions” from the sheriff to clear the street. Thus, the sheriff and his deputies found it necessary to disperse demonstrators by walking up the street directly into their path. Only at that point did the demonstrators move to the curbs.
The stipulation contains only one other declaration of fact: that Sheriff Thrasher arrested the appellant, Gregory Hess, for disorderly conduct. The remainder of the stipulation merely summarizes testimony, particularly the testimony of Sheriff Thrasher, two female witnesses (both students at Indiana University) who were apparently part of the crowd, and Dr. Owen Thomas, a professor of English at the university. The only “established” facts which emerge from these summaries are that “Hess was standing off the street on the eastern curb of Indiana Avenue” and that he said, in the words of the trial court, “We’ll take the fucking street later (or again).” The two female witnesses testified, as the majority correctly observes, that they were not offended by Hess’ statement, that it was said no louder than statements by other demonstrators, “that Hess did not appear to be exhorting the crowd to go back into the street,” that he was facing the crowd, and “that his state*111ment did not appear to be addressed to any particular person or group.” (Emphasis added.)
The majority makes much of this “uncontroverted evidence,” but I am unable to find anywhere in the opinion an explanation of why it must be believed. Surely the sentence “We’ll take the fucking street later (or again)” is susceptible of characterization as an exhortation, particularly when uttered in a loud voice while facing a crowd. The opinions of two defense witnesses cannot be considered proof to the contrary, since the trial court was perfectly free to reject this testimony if it so desired. Perhaps, as these witnesses and the majority opinion seem to suggest, appellant was simply expressing his views to the world at large, but that is surely not the only rational explanation.
The majority also places great emphasis on appellant’s use of the word “later,” even suggesting at one point that the statement “could be taken as counsel for present moderation.” The opinion continues: “[A]t worst, it amounted to nothing more than advocacy of illegal action at some indefinite future time.” From that observation, the majority somehow concludes that the advocacy was not directed towards inciting imminent action. But whatever other theoretical interpretations may be placed upon the remark, there are surely possible constructions of the statement which would encompass more or less immediate and continuing action against the harassed police. They should not be rejected out of hand because of an unexplained preference for other acceptable alternatives.
The simple explanation for the result in this case is that the majority has interpreted the evidence differently from the courts below. In doing so, however, I believe the Court has exceeded the proper scope of our review. Rather than considering the “evidence” in the light most *112favorable to the appellee and resolving credibility-questions against the appellant, as many of our cases have required,* the Court has instead fashioned its own version of events from a paper record, some “uncontroverted evidence,” and a large measure of conjecture. Since this is not the traditional function of any appellate court, and is surely not a wise or proper use of the authority of this Court, I dissent.

See, e. g., Glosser v. United States, 315 U. S. 60, 80 (1942).