In the 1941 case of Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, Walter Chaplinsky was convicted under a state law for using offensive language in public after he called a city marshal "a God damned racketeer" and "a damned fascist." He appealed his conviction to the U.S Supreme Court arguing that the law violated his First Amendment rights. However, the court unanimously upheld his conviction stating that certain categories of speech, including fighting words which by their utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of peace, are not protected by the Constitution. The court ruled that such expressions are no essential part of any exposition of ideas and have slight social value as a step towards truth. This landmark decision introduced what is known as 'fighting words doctrine' into American jurisprudence.

In the case of Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, there were no dissenting opinions recorded from any justices on the Supreme Court bench. The court unanimously upheld Chaplinsky's conviction for breaching a state law that prohibited offensive or derisive speech directed towards others in public spaces. They concluded that certain categories of speech, such as fighting words which tend to incite immediate violence or breach peace, are not protected by the First Amendment right to freedom of expression.