Organization for a Better Austin v. Keefe

402 U.S. 415 (1971)

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Organization for a Better Austin v. Keefe

United States Supreme Court
402 U.S. 415 (1971)

Facts

Organization for a Better Austin (OBA) (defendant) was a community organization in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. OBA was racially integrated and wanted to stabilize the ratio of Black and White residents in Austin. OBA asserted that Jerome Keefe (plaintiff), an Austin real estate broker, was trying to scare local White residents into selling their homes by telling them that Black people would be moving into the area. Keefe allegedly then obtained those residents’ home listings and sold the homes to Black buyers. OBA began distributing leaflets about Keefe in the 18,000-person city of Westchester, Illinois, where Keefe lived. The leaflets criticized Keefe’s real estate practices, quoted Keefe as saying, “I only sell to Negroes,” and accused Keefe of being a “panic peddler” based on his conduct. The leaflets encouraged recipients to call Keefe at his home and tell him to sign a no-solicitation agreement. One of the leaflets stated that when Keefe signed the agreement and promised to stop engaging in his conduct, OBA would stop coming to Westchester. OBA distributed the leaflets to Keefe’s neighbors, to parishioners at Keefe’s church, and to customers at a Westchester shopping center. Keefe brought an action against OBA, asking the trial court to enjoin OBA’s conduct. The trial court granted an injunction prohibiting OBA from passing out pamphlets, leaflets, or literature of any kind in Westchester and from picketing in Westchester. The appellate court affirmed. The United States Supreme Court granted OBA’s petition for certiorari.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Burger, C.J.)

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