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NEWS AUGUST 31, 2020 ¦ 5

The firm, the company said, will have staff work- said, is similar to the McCarter & English Pro Bono
ing in close collaboration with community leaders Fellowship. The fellowship, the firm said, provides a
in areas like eviction and economic development full-time attorney to work on the urgent legal needs
and empowerment. of low-income Newark, New Jersey residents. The
• C ontinuing to educate McCarter & English staff, firm has an office in Newark.
including its attorneys, on the racial inequities ¦

in the country and the ramifications of them. Robert Storace covers legal trends, lawsuits and
The firm also announced this summer that is was analysis for the Connecticut Law Tribune. Follow
establishing a full-time, six-month rotating fellow- him on Twitter @RobertSCTLaw or reach him at
ship dedicated to the project. The position, the firm 203-437-5950.

When the N-Word Is Not Protected Speech:
Connecticut Supreme Court Weighs In

The N-word is not protected By Robert Storace
free speech in Connecti-
cut if used in a threatening
manner, the Connecticut Su-
preme Court ruled unanimously
Thursday afternoon, overturning
an Appellate Court ruling that
had found otherwise.
Writing on the court’s behalf
in a 24-page ruling, Associate
Supreme Court Justice Richard
Palmer described the history of
the word, and how demeaning it
is to Black people.
“The court finds that the de-
Connecticut Supreme Court building in Hartford.

fendant’s (David Liebenguth) Photo: Michael Marciano/ALM

language, f---- n----, directed at Michael McCargo case, Liebenguth uttered the racial slurs toward Mc-
twice is not protected speech,” Palmer wrote. “In the Cargo, who had just issued him a $15 parking ticket.
American lexicon, there is no other racial epithet The incident, the court said, culminated with Li-
more loaded with racial animus, no other epithet ebenguth again angrily shouting a racial slur at the
more degrading, demeaning and dehumanizing. It parking officer while driving past him.
is a word that is probably the most vile racial epi- The Appellate Court had overruled a lower Superi-
thet a non-African-American can direct toward an or Court finding that Liebenguth’s speech amounted
African-American.” to “fighting words,” which are unprotected under
The court found the N-word “itself is a word likely the First Amendment. But Liebenguth countered
to provoke a violent response.” that the U.S. Constitution protected him.
According to the Supreme Court analysis of the
¦ Continued on PAGE 6

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