Street V. New York - Facts and Procedural History

Facts and Procedural History

After hearing a news report of the attempted murder of James Meredith, the defendant, Sidney Street, took a 48-star U.S. flag and burned it. Upon being questioned by police, he said, "Yes; that is my flag; I burned it. If they let that happen to Meredith, we don't need an American flag."

He was arrested, and a document was prepared that charged him with

the crime of Malicious Mischief in that did willfully and unlawfully defile, cast contempt upon and burn an American Flag, in violation of 1425-16-D of the Penal Law, under the following circumstances: . . . did willfully and unlawfully set fire to an American Flag and shout, "If they did that to Meredith, We don't need an American Flag."

A bench trial was held, he was convicted, and his conviction was upheld on appeal both by the intermediate appellate court and by the New York Court of Appeals. The United States Supreme Court considered the following questions:

• Did the defendant give the state courts an adequate opportunity to decide "the constitutionality of the 'words' part of the statute"? The United States Supreme Court will not consider the question of whether a state statute is unconstitutional unless the question is first raised in state court.
• Given that the defendant also burned the flag, did the defendant's words independently contribute to his conviction?
• Is the prohibition on uttering words in contempt of the Flag actually unconstitutional?
• If this prohibition is actually unconstitutional, would that require reversal of the defendant's conviction?