In the 1965 case Brown et al. v. Louisiana, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of five African American men who were arrested for staging a peaceful sit-in at a segregated public library in Louisiana to protest racial segregation. The court held that their convictions violated their First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly and Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection under law. The majority opinion argued that peaceful protests are part of free speech even if they cause some disruption, as long as they do not incite violence or pose clear threat to public safety. This ruling was significant because it extended constitutional protections for nonviolent civil rights demonstrations against racial discrimination.

In the dissenting opinion for Brown et al. v. Louisiana, Justice Harlan argued that the majority's decision to overturn convictions of African American protesters who conducted a peaceful sit-in at a segregated library was incorrect. He contended that this case did not involve any constitutional issues related to free speech or assembly rights as claimed by the majority but rather concerned trespass laws which he believed were applied fairly and without racial discrimination in this instance. According to him, while segregation might be morally wrong and socially harmful, it is not constitutionally forbidden unless it involves state action; private property owners should have the right to choose whom they serve or admit into their premises. Furthermore, he suggested that civil disobedience cannot justify breaking validly enacted laws even if done with noble intentions like protesting against racial discrimination.