Home > Great American Court Cases > Walker v. Birmingham

Legal Citation: 388 U.S. 307 (1967)

Petitioners
Wyatt Tee Walker, et al.

Respondent
City of Birmingham, Alabama

Petitioners' Claim
That the conviction of Walker and seven other African American ministers, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on contempt charges stemming from their decision to disregard an injunction prohibiting them from participating in a Birmingham demonstration, should be reversed on grounds that the injunction violated their constitutionally protected rights to free speech and assembly, and was therefore invalid.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioners
Jack Greenberg

Chief Lawyers for Respondent
Earl McBee, J.M. Breckenridge

Justices for the Court
Potter Stewart (writing for the Court), Byron R. White, John Marshall Harlan II, Tom C. Clark, Hugo Lafayette Black

Justices Dissenting
Earl Warren,...