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Offensive Conduct: The Case Of Cohen Vs. California

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With today’s growing appetite for interaction, whether that is through social media or in person, we will often either see or hear items that may be offensive to us. These terms can be identified as offensive speech and offensive conduct. Although that may sound the same, there are differences. In the case of Cohen v. California (1971), Paul Cohen was charged and convicted of disturbing the peace for wearing a jacket in a California courthouse for wearing a jacket that stated “Fuck the draft.” At the time that Mr. Cohen was wearing the jacket, it was during the era of disgust with the Vietnam War. Although he did not incite a riot for the jacket he was wearing, the arresting officer felt that the mere uttering of the word fuck on his jacket

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