North Carolina Speaker Ban A Fight for Free Speech

On June 26, 1963, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the Act to Regulate Visiting Speakers, which became widely known as the Speaker Ban Law. This controversial legislation forbade anyone from speaking on a University of North Carolina campus if they were a known member of the Communist Party, advocated for the overthrow of the United States Constitution, or had invoked the Fifth Amendment regarding subversive connections.

Background and Political Climate

The early 1960s were a period of intense social unrest in North Carolina, primarily driven by protests against segregation. As students and faculty from the University of North Carolina joined these demonstrations, a public perception formed linking the university to the unrest. In the Cold War atmosphere of the era, conservative members of the General Assembly feared that communism was fueling these challenges to authority and racial unrest.

The Rapid Passage of the Law

The Speaker Ban Law was rushed through the legislature with virtually no debate. Representative Phil Godwin introduced the bill in the House, where it passed three readings in just four minutes. In the Senate, President T. Clarence Stone expedited the process further, ignoring objections from senators like Robert B. Morgan and Perry Martin. Despite Governor Terry Sanford's opposition, the bill became law because the governor lacked veto power at the time.

Criticism and Legal Challenges

Critics argued that the law was a direct violation of the First Amendment. Many pointed out the practical impossibility of defining a "known communist" and ridiculed the law by noting that historical figures like Robert E. Lee would have been banned for advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government.

The Strategy for Overturning the Ban

To challenge the law, student body president Paul Dickson and other students invited two known communists, Herbert Aptheker and Frank Wilkinson, to speak. When university officials refused them access to the campus, the speakers addressed the crowd from across a stone wall separating the university from the town of Chapel Hill.

The Court's Decision

This refusal served as the basis for a federal lawsuit filed by students and supported by the newly established North Carolina chapter of the ACLU. On February 19, 1968, a three-judge federal district court in Greensboro declared the Speaker Ban Law invalid, citing its vagueness.