Miller v. City of Fairhope

2 Citing cases

  1. C.P. v. State

    988 So. 2d 1067 (Ala. Civ. App. 2007)

    Historically, § 13A-11-8 has been narrowly interpreted to apply only to those actions that, depending on the circumstances and context, constitute "fighting words." Miller v. City of Fairhope, 855 So.2d 1139 (Ala.Crim.App. 2003) (reference to victim as "bitch" did not support conviction under harassment statute, which required use of abusive or obscene language that could be construed as "fighting words"); Owens v. State, 848 So.2d 279 (Ala.Crim.App. 2002) (reference to victim's terminally ill family member as a "churchgoing hypocrite" soon going to "bust the gate of hell wide-open" did not constitute fighting words); Conkle v. State, 677 So.2d 1211 (Ala.Crim.App. 1995); R.I.T. v. State, 675 So.2d 97 (Ala.Crim.App. 1995); B.E.S. v. State, 629 So.2d 761 (Ala.Crim.App. 1993) (direction to juvenile victim during private quarrel "to shut the f up" did not constitute fighting words). "[Fighting words] are words that by their very utterance provoke a swift physical retaliation and incite an immediate breach of the peace."

  2. B.B. v. State

    863 So. 2d 132 (Ala. Crim. App. 2003)   Cited 2 times
    Holding that a disruptive seventh grade student who threatened to kill his teacher violated § 13A-11-8 where the student was very angry during the incident, uttered the threat through clenched teeth and threw a desk across the room while stating, "I hate that teacher, I hate that teacher," and the teacher and another witness both testified that they feared the student would harm the teacher

    Historically, this statute has been narrowly interpreted to apply only to those actions that, depending on the circumstances and context, constitute "fighting words." Miller v. City of Fairhope, [Ms. CR-02-0235, February 28, 2003] 855 So.2d 1139 (Ala.Crim.App. 2003). See also Conkle v. State, 677 So.2d 1211 (Ala.Crim.App. 1995); R.I.T. v. State, 675 So.2d 97 (Ala.Crim.App. 1995); B.E.S. v. State, 629 So.2d 761 (Ala.Crim.App. 1993).