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In an unsigned decision, the court overruled an appellate court’s application of Ohio’s “criminal syndicalism” statute to a Ku Klux Klan leader.

The catch-all charge was a fairly new California felony banning “criminal syndicalism.”

When asked if she knew the phrase “criminal syndicalism,” Ball replied, “No, but it is pretty.”

Brandenburg was subsequently arrested and convicted of violating Ohio's criminal syndicalism law, which made it a crime to advocate violence as a means of achieving political reform.

State criminal syndicalism laws essentially made it a crime to advocate ideas opposed by the government.