I was under the belief that the only fighting words involved insulting someone's wife or girlfriend. Regardless, fighting words justify a fight, not an arrest.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the word n***er or any other word for that matter doesn't legal qualify as fighting words.

Quoted: Quoted: In more recent decisions, the Court has held that fighting words must "reasonably incite the average person to retaliate" and risk "an immediate breach of the peace" or they could not be prohibited. Be careful what you say and who you say it to. Chaplinsky has been called into doubt by Greene v Barber 310 F.3d 889. It should also be noted that Chaplinsky represents a rather narrow holding. This case is frequently distinguished by the Courts and occasionally has been rejected pursuant to separate state law grounds. It also bears noting that Chaplinsky was decided by the SCOTUS in 1942. Quite a bit has changed since 1942. The "likely to cause a breach of the peace" rationale is questionable at best. This is particularly true since the law has developed such that mere threatening words are not enough to support a claim of self defense. If threats of violence alone don't justify a breach of the peace under the law, how is it reasonable to think that an insult or epithet would reasonably incite the average person to retaliate such that there was a genuine risk of imminent breach of the peace? I'm not suggesting that you're not correct, BTW.... just suggesting that Chaplinsky is inconsistent with other holdings, a narrow holding and probably an outdated case that is ripe to be overturned.

SCOTUS has a lot of case law to clear up.  Look at the Second Amendment.  The Miller decision leaves the impression that our God-given right to own firearms for self-defense depends on the utility of that weapon for military use.  Given that reasoning, military-style firearms fall under this protection.  Tell that to the millions of law-abiding gun owners affected by the Assault Weapons Ban.  BTW, I'm not a lawyer, but I am a graduate of an ABA-accredited law school.  I just thought a quick quote from Wikipedia would be preferable to reciting from my Con Law book.  Party on.