West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette

1943 United States Supreme Court case

West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette

Supreme Court of the United States

Argued March 11, 1943
Decided June 14, 1943
Full case name| West Virginia State Board of Education, et al. v. Walter Barnette, et al.
Citations| 319 U.S. 624 (more)

63 S. Ct. 1178; 87 L. Ed. 1628; 1943 U.S. LEXIS 490; 147 A.L.R. 674

Case history
Prior| Injunction granted, 47 F. Supp. 251 (S.D. W. Va. 1942)
Holding
The Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment prohibits public schools from forcing students to salute the American flag and say the Pledge of Allegiance. United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia affirmed.
Court membership

Chief Justice
Harlan F. Stone
Associate Justices
Owen Roberts * Hugo Black
Stanley F. Reed * Felix Frankfurter
William O. Douglas * Frank Murphy
Robert H. Jackson * Wiley B. Rutledge
Case opinions
Majority| Jackson, joined by Stone, Black, Douglas, Murphy, Rutledge
Concurrence| Black, Douglas
Concurrence| Murphy
Dissent| Frankfurter
Dissent| Roberts, Reed
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amends. I, XIV; W. Va. Code § 1734 (1941)

This case overturned a previous ruling or rulings

Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940)

West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943), is a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court holding that the First Amendment protects students from being compelled to salute the American flag or say the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools.[1][2]

Barnette overruled a 1940 decision on the same issue, Minersville School District v. Gobitis, in which the Supreme Court ruled that such laws were valid because they had been passed by elected legislators.[3] The Barnette ruling was a significant victory for Jehovah's Witnesses, whose religion forbade them from saluting or pledging to symbols, including those of political institutions.[4] The ruling is also influential for its focus on freedom of speech principles rather than freedom of religion.[5]

## Background

[edit]

In the 1930s, the president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, began objecting to state laws requiring school students to salute the flag as a means of instilling patriotism, and in 1936 he declared that baptized Jehovah's Witnesses who saluted the flag were breaking their covenant with God and were committing idolatry, per a passage in the Book of Exodus.[6]

In several reported incidents during this period, children of Jehovah's Witnesses had been expelled from schools for refusing to salute the American flag or recite the Pledge of Allegiance.[7] One such expulsion resulted in the Supreme Court case Minersville School District v. Gobitis in 1940, in which the High Court sided with school districts and advised dissenting parents to try to change procedures via standard political processes.[3]

In 1942, the West Virginia Board of Education passed a regulation requiring schoolchildren to salute the American flag; recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance was also required.[8] Failure to comply was considered "insubordination" and dealt with by expulsion from school; the expelled student would then be considered a delinquent, and their parents could be fined up to $50 (about $930 in 2023 dollars) and jailed up to thirty days.[9]

Marie and Gathie Barnett (whose surname was spelled incorrectly in the court documents) were Jehovah's Witnesses attending Slip Hill Grade School near Charleston, and were instructed by their father not to salute the flag or recite the pledge. They were expelled for their refusal. Their parents continued to send the girls to school each day, only for the school to send them back home.[10]

The Barnett family filed suit in the District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, alleging that the regulation violated the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the freedoms of speech and religion under the First Amendment. The District Court enjoined enforcement against students who refused to participate in the daily pledge. Due to the case's constitutional implications, the West Virginia School Board appealed directly to the United States Supreme Court.[1][11]

## Arguments

[edit]

At the Supreme Court, the School Board argued that the matter was specific to West Virginia law and that the Barnetts had raised no substantial federal question. The Board's argument relied upon the Gobitis precedent.[1] The Barnetts' attorney, Hayden Covington, referenced the frequent persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses via statutes like that in West Virginia, and argued that the Gobitis precedent should be overturned because it enabled states to pass discriminatory laws.[12]

The American Bar Association and the American Civil Liberties Union filed amicus curiae briefs arguing that Gobitis was bad law and should be overruled.[12]

## Decision of the court

[edit]

Students pledging to the American flag with the Bellamy salute, 1941

The court, in a 6–3 decision delivered by Justice Robert H. Jackson, held that it was unconstitutional for public schools to compel students to salute the flag. It thus overruled its decision in Minersville School District v. Gobitis just three years earlier, finding that the flag salute was "a form of utterance" and "a primitive but effective means of communicating ideas", and therefore was speech for which the First Amendment applied. The court held that any "compulsory unification of opinion" was antithetical to free speech values. In Jackson's words: "If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein."[1]

Jackson's opinion intricately refuted the arguments that had been made in the Gobitis precedent. First, Jackson rejected the previous court's holding that the American flag was a national symbol worthy of veneration for that reason alone, stating that symbols are merely the prelude to speech, and that "a person gets from a symbol the meaning he puts into it, and what is one man's comfort and inspiration is another's jest and scorn." Second, Jackson rejected the holding that flag-saluting ceremonies were an appropriate way to build "cohesive sentiment" for national unity, warning that "Those who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters. Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard."[1]

On the Gobitis holding that those who disagreed with a school board's regulation should try to change it through standard political processes, Jackson argued that the conflict at issue was between government authority and the individual, and that the Founding Fathers intended the Bill of Rights to protect minority rights from the whims of a majority. Jackson wrote: "The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts."[1]

Justices Hugo Black and William O. Douglas wrote a concurring opinion to explain their reasons for changing their view from the prior Gobitis decision, in which both had joined the majority. In their concurring opinion they expanded upon the futility of pledges and oaths as means to build patriotism. "Love of country must spring from willing hearts and free minds, inspired by a fair administration of wise laws enacted by the people's elected representatives within the bounds of express constitutional prohibitions."[1]

### Dissenting opinion

[edit]

The Justice who had written the Gobitis ruling in 1940 – Felix Frankfurter – strongly disagreed with how that precedent was being overturned in the Barnette ruling. In his dissenting opinion, Frankfurter reinforced his holding in Gobitis that those who disagree with a law should attempt to change it through the political process, rather than break that law due to religious conscience. "Otherwise each individual could set up his own censor against obedience to laws conscientiously deemed for the public good by those whose business it is to make laws." Thus, Frankfurter believed that the Barnette majority overstepped its authority in striking down the West Virginia law, which had been passed by elected legislators.[1]

Frankfurter's dissent was written from the perspective of his own Jewish roots, showing sympathy for other persecuted religious minorities but taking an impartial legal and unconstitutional view of the dispute, and exercising judicial restraint. Fellow Justices Owen Roberts and Frank Murphy advised Frankfurter to tone down the personal dimensions of his dissent, but he refused.[13]

## Impact

[edit]

The Supreme Court's ruling Barnette is considered a crucial precedent on the freedoms established by the Bill of Rights and the risk of governments restricting them via discriminatory laws.[10][14] It is considered to be a formative precedent on not just freedom of religion;[15][16] but also on the matter of compelled speech, as governments attempt to coerce citizens into taking oaths when they would not do so under their own free will, particularly for religious reasons.[17][18]

In a 2006 commemorative event cosponsored by the Justice Robert H. Jackson Center and the Supreme Court Historical Society, Supreme Court law clerks who had been present at the Barnette ruling appeared on a panel with Marie and Gathie Barnett. Gathie noted that – just as she and her sister had been in 1942 – her son had later been sent to the principal's office for not saluting the flag.[10]

## See also

[edit]

* Criticism of the Pledge of Allegiance
* List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 319

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (S. Ct., 1943).
2. ^ "West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette | Constitution Center". National Constitution Center – constitutioncenter.org. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
3. ^ a b Minersville School District v. Gobitis, 310 U.S. 586 (S. Ct., 1940).
4. ^ Barringer Gordon, Sarah (January 27, 2011). "How Jehovah's Witnesses Became Unlikely Champions of Religious Freedom". HistoryNet. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
5. ^ Johnson, John W. (2001). Historic U.S. Court Cases: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. p. 953\. ISBN 978-0-415-93756-6.
6. ^ Exodus 20, 4-5: "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments."
7. ^ Hanstein, Woody (January 16, 2013). "From the Bulldog's Desk: A lesson on patriotism from a 9-year-old boy". The Daily Bulldog.
8. ^ Peters, Shawn (2000). Judging Jehovah's Witnesses: Religious Persecution and the Dawn of the Rights Revolution. University Press of Kansas. p. 245\. ISBN 978-0-7006-1182-9.
9. ^ "4 U.S. Code § 4 - Pledge of allegiance to the flag; manner of delivery". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
10. ^ a b c "Recollections of West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette". St. John's Law Review. 81 (4): 770–771. Fall 2007.
11. ^ Hudson, David (December 28, 2009). "Woman in Barnette reflects on the famous flag-salute case". First Amendment Center.
12. ^ a b Manwaring (1953). "Render Unto Caesar". The Scientific Monthly. 76 (1): 54. Bibcode:1953SciMo..76...54H.[full citation needed]
13. ^ Danzig, Richard (February 1984). "Justice Frankfurter's Opinions in the Flag Salute Cases: Blending Logic and Psychologic in Constitutional Decisionmaking". Stanford Law Review. 36 (3): 675–723. doi:10.2307/1228720. JSTOR 1228720.
14. ^ Goldberg, Erica (Spring 2019). ""Good Orthodoxy" and the Legacy of Barnette". FIU Law Review. 13 (4): 639–666. doi:10.25148/lawrev.13.4.6 - via HeinOnline.
15. ^ Pear, R.H. (April 1949). "The U.S. Supreme Court and Religious Freedom". Modern Law Review. 12 (2): 167–182. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2230.1949.tb00118.x - via HeinOnline.
16. ^ Wood, Jr., James E. (Winter 1989). "Religious Pluralism and Religious Freedom". Journal of Church and State. 31 (1): 7–14. doi:10.1093/jcs/31.1.7 - via HeinOnline.
17. ^ Lakier, Genevieve (Spring 2019). "Not Such a Fixed Star after All: West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, and the Changing Meaning of the First Amendment Right Not to Speak". FIU Law Review. 13 (4): 741–764. doi:10.25148/lawrev.13.4.10 - via HeinOnline.
18. ^ Tsesis, Alexander (Spring 2022). "Compelled Speech and Proportionality". Indiana Law Journal. 97 (3): 811–840 - via HeinOnline.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Alley, Robert S. (1999). The Constitution & Religion: Leading Supreme Court Cases on Church and State. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. pp. 428–436. ISBN 1-57392-703-1.
* Irons, Peter H. (1999). A People's History of the Supreme Court. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-87006-4.
* Kommers, Donald P.; Finn, John E.; Jacobson, Gary J. (2004). American Constitutional Law. Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-2688-7.
* Sandmann, Warren (2003). "West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette". In Parker, Richard A. (ed.). Free Speech on Trial: Communication Perspectives on Landmark Supreme Court Decisions. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. pp. 100–115. ISBN 0-8173-1301-X.

## External links

[edit]

* Works related to West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette at Wikisource
* Text of West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943) is available from: Cornell CourtListener Findlaw Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress OpenJurist
* First Amendment Library entry on West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnett
* What We Owe Jehovah's Witnesses, by Sarah Barringer Gordon, April/May 2011 American History magazine; article on Barnette's effects on Constitutional Law.
* State Board of Education Resolution on Salute to the Flag West Virginia State Board of Education, Record of Proceedings

* v
* t
* e

Rights of students under the United States Constitution case law

First Amendment school prayer|

* Zorach v. Clauson (1952)
* Engel v. Vitale (1962)
* Abington School District v. Schempp (1963)
* Stone v. Graham (1980)
* Wallace v. Jaffree (1985)
* Lee v. Weisman (1992)
* Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000)
* Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow (2004)

First Amendment school speech|

* Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940)
* West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)
* Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)
* Healy v. James (1972)
* Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982)
* Bethel School District v. Fraser (1986)
* Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)
* Westside Community Board of Education v. Mergens (1990)
* Rosenberger v. University of Virginia (1995)
* Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth (2000)
* Morse v. Frederick (2007)
* Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski (2021)
* Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. (2021)

Fourth Amendment exceptions
to the warrant requirement|

* New Jersey v. T. L. O. (1985)
* Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton (1995)
* Board of Education v. Earls (2002)
* Safford Unified School District v. Redding (2009)

* v
* t
* e

United States First Amendment case law

Establishment Clause

| Public displays
and ceremonies|

* Marsh v. Chambers (1983)
* Lynch v. Donnelly (1984)
* Board of Trustees of Scarsdale v. McCreary (1985)
* County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union (1989)
* Van Orden v. Perry (2005)
* McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union (2005)
* Pleasant Grove City v. Summum (2009)
* Salazar v. Buono (2010)
* Town of Greece v. Galloway (2014)
* American Legion v. American Humanist Association (2019)

|

Statutory religious
exemptions|

* Walz v. Tax Comm'n of the City of New York (1970)
* California v. Grace Brethren Church (1982)
* Bob Jones University v. United States (1983)
* Estate of Thornton v. Caldor, Inc. (1985)
* Corp. of Presiding Bishop v. Amos (1987)
* Texas Monthly, Inc. v. Bullock (1989)
* City of Boerne v. Flores (1997)
* Cutter v. Wilkinson (2005)

Public funding|

* Cochran v. Board of Education (1930)
* Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
* Flast v. Cohen (1968)
* Board of Ed. of Central School Dist. No. 1 v. Allen (1968)
* Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
* Tilton v. Richardson (1971)
* Lemon v. Kurtzman II (1973)
* Levitt v. Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty (1973)
* Hunt v. McNair (1973)
* Committee for Public Education v. Nyquist (1973)
* Sloan v. Lemon (1973)
* Wheeler v. Barrera (1974)
* Public Funds for Public Schools v. Marburger (1974)
* Meek v. Pittenger (1975)
* Roemer v. Board of Public Works of Maryland (1976)
* Wolman v. Walter (1977)
* New York v. Cathedral Academy (1977)
* Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty v. Regan (1980)
* Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church & State (1982)
* Mueller v. Allen (1983)
* School Dist. of Grand Rapids v. Ball (1985)
* Aguilar v. Felton (1985)
* Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind (1986)
* Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District (1993)
* Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School Dist. v. Grumet (1994)
* Agostini v. Felton (1997)
* Mitchell v. Helms (2000)
* Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002)
* Arizona Christian Sch. Tuition Org. v. Winn (2011)
* Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer (2017)
* Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020)
* Carson v. Makin (2022)

Religion in
public schools|

* McCollum v. Board of Education (1948)
* Zorach v. Clauson (1952)
* Engel v. Vitale (1962)
* Abington School District v. Schempp (1963)
* Epperson v. Arkansas (1968)
* Stone v. Graham (1980)
* Wallace v. Jaffree (1985)
* Edwards v. Aguillard (1987)
* Westside Community Board of Ed. v. Mergens (1990)
* Lee v. Weisman (1992)
* Santa Fe Ind. School Dist. v. Doe (2000)
* Elk Grove Unif. School Dist. v. Newdow (2004)
* Kennedy v. Bremerton School Dist. (2022)

Private religious speech|

* Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School Dist. (1993)
* Capitol Square Review & Advisory Board v. Pinette (1995)
* Rosenberger v. Univ. of Virginia (1995)
* Good News Club v. Milford Central School (2001)
* Shurtleff v. City of Boston (2022)
* Kennedy v. Bremerton School Dist. (2022)

Internal church affairs|

* Watson v. Jones (1872)
* Gonzalez v. Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila (1929)
* United States v. Ballard (1944)
* Kedroff v. St. Nicholas Cathedral (1952)
* Kreshik v. St. Nicholas Cathedral (1960)
* Presbyterian Church v. Hull Church (1969)
* Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese v. Milivojevich (1976)
* Jones v. Wolf (1979)
* Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan v. Acevedo Feliciano (2020)

Taxpayer standing|

* Flast v. Cohen (1968)
* Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church & State (1982)
* Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation (2007)
* Arizona Christian Sch. Tuition Org. v. Winn (2011)

Blue laws|

* McGowan v. Maryland (1961)
* Two Guys from Harrison-Allentown, Inc. v. McGinley (1961)
* Braunfeld v. Brown (1961)
* Estate of Thornton v. Caldor, Inc. (1985)

Other|

* Torcaso v. Watkins (1961)
* McDaniel v. Paty (1978)
* Harris v. McRae (1980)
* Larkin v. Grendel's Den, Inc. (1982)
* Larson v. Valente (1982)
* Bowen v. Kendrick (1988)
* Swaggart Ministries v. Board of Equalization (1989)
* Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School Dist. v. Grumet (1994)
* Trump v. Hawaii (2018)

Free Exercise Clause

* Reynolds v. United States (1879)
* Davis v. Beason (1890)
* Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)
* Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940)
* Jamison v. Texas (1943)
* Murdock v. Pennsylvania (1943)
* United States v. Ballard (1944)
* Tucker v. Texas (1946)
* Niemotko v. Maryland (1951)
* Kunz v. New York (1951)
* Fowler v. Rhode Island (1953)
* Braunfeld v. Brown (1961)
* Gallagher v. Crown Kosher Super Market of Massachusetts, Inc. (1961)
* Torcaso v. Watkins (1961)
* Sherbert v. Verner (1963)
* Cruz v. Beto (1972)
* Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)
* McDaniel v. Paty (1978)
* Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. (1981)
* Thomas v. Review Board (1981)
* United States v. Lee (1982)
* Bob Jones University v. United States (1983)
* Bowen v. Roy (1986)
* Goldman v. Weinberger (1986)
* O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz (1987)
* Frazee v. Illinois Department of Employment Security (1989)
* Swaggart Ministries v. Board of Equalization (1989)
* Employment Division v. Smith (1990)
* Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah (1993)
* Watchtower Society v. Village of Stratton (2002)
* Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018)
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo (2020)
* Tandon v. Newsom (2021)
* Fulton v. City of Philadelphia (2021)
* Kennedy v. Bremerton School Dist. (2022)

| Exclusion of religion
from public benefits|

* Locke v. Davey (2004)
* Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer (2017)
* Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020)
* Carson v. Makin (2022)

|

Ministerial exception|

* NLRB v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago (1979)
* Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC (2012)
* Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru (2020)

Statutory religious exemptions|

| RFRA|

* Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal (2006)
* Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (2014)
* Zubik v. Burwell (2016)
* Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania (2020)
* Tanzin v. Tanvir (2020)

|

RLUIPA|

* Sossamon v. Texas (2011)
* Holt v. Hobbs (2015)
* Ramirez v. Collier (2022)

Freedom of speech (portal)

| Unprotected
speech|

| Incitement
and sedition|

* Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)
* Masses Publishing Co. v. Patten (S.D.N.Y. 1917)
* Schenck v. United States (1919)
* Debs v. United States (1919)
* Abrams v. United States (1919)
* Gitlow v. New York (1925)
* Whitney v. California (1927)
* Fiske v. Kansas (1927)
* Dennis v. United States (1951)
* Communist Party v. Subversive Activities Control Bd. (1955; 1961)
* Yates v. United States (1957, clear and present danger)
* Bond v. Floyd (1966)
* Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969, imminent lawless action)
* Hess v. Indiana (1973)

|

Defamation and
false speech|

* New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)
* Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1988)
* United States v. Alvarez (2012)
* Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus (2014)

Fighting words and
the heckler's veto|

* Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)
* Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942)
* Terminiello v. City of Chicago (1949)
* Feiner v. New York (1951)
* Gregory v. City of Chicago (1969)
* Cohen v. California (1971)
* Nat'l Socialist Party v. Village of Skokie (1977)
* R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul (1992)
* Snyder v. Phelps (2011)

True threats|

* Watts v. United States (1969)
* Virginia v. Black (2003)
* Elonis v. United States (2015)
* Counterman v. Colorado (2023)

Obscenity|

* Rosen v. United States (1896)
* United States v. One Book Called Ulysses (S.D.N.Y. 1933)
* Roth v. United States (1957)
* One, Inc. v. Olesen (1958)
* Smith v. California (1959)
* Marcus v. Search Warrant (1961)
* MANual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day (1962)
* Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964)
* Quantity of Books v. Kansas (1964)
* Ginzburg v. United States (1966)
* Memoirs v. Massachusetts (1966)
* Redrup v. New York (1967)
* Ginsberg v. New York (1968)
* Stanley v. Georgia (1969)
* United States v. Thirty-seven Photographs (1971)
* Kois v. Wisconsin (1972)
* Miller v. California (1973)
* Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton (1973)
* United States v. 12 200-ft. Reels of Film (1973)
* Jenkins v. Georgia (1974)
* Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad (1975)
* Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville (1975)
* Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. (1976)
* Vance v. Universal Amusement Co., Inc. (1980)
* American Booksellers Ass'n, Inc. v. Hudnut (7th Cir. 1985)
* People v. Freeman (Cal. 1988)
* United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. (1994)
* Reno v. ACLU (1997)
* United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc. (2000)
* City of Los Angeles v. Alameda Books, Inc. (2002)
* Ashcroft v. ACLU I (2002)
* United States v. American Library Ass'n (2003)
* Ashcroft v. ACLU II (2004)
* Nitke v. Gonzales (S.D.N.Y. 2005)
* United States v. Williams (2008)
* American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression v. Strickland (6th Cir. 2009)
* United States v. Kilbride (9th Cir. 2009)
* United States v. Stevens (2010)
* Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Ass'n (2011)
* FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. (2012)
* Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton (2025)

Speech integral
to criminal conduct|

* New York v. Ferber (1982)
* Osborne v. Ohio (1990)
* Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (2002)
* United States v. Hansen (2023)

Strict scrutiny|

* Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project (2010)
* Williams-Yulee v. Florida Bar (2015)

Overbreadth
Vagueness|

* Smith v. Goguen (1974)
* Board of Airport Commissioners v. Jews for Jesus (1987)
* Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky (2018)

Symbolic speech
versus conduct|

* Stromberg v. California (1931)
* United States v. O'Brien (1968)
* Cohen v. California (1971)
* Spence v. Washington (1974)
* Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence (1984)
* Dallas v. Stanglin (1989)
* Texas v. Johnson (1989)
* United States v. Eichman (1990)
* Barnes v. Glen Theatre (1991)
* City of Erie v. Pap's A. M. (2000)
* Virginia v. Black (2003)

Content-based
restrictions|

* Lamont v. Postmaster General (1965)
* Metromedia, Inc. v. San Diego (1981)
* Boos v. Barry (1988)
* Butterworth v. Smith (1990)
* Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Crime Victims Board (1991)
* R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul (1992)
* Reed v. Town of Gilbert (2015)
* Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants (2020)
* City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising of Austin, LLC (2022)

Content-neutral
restrictions|

* Schneider v. New Jersey (1939)
* Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc. (1986)
* City of Ladue v. Gilleo (1994)
* Packingham v. North Carolina (2017)

| In the
public forum|

* Davis v. Massachusetts (1897)
* Hague v. CIO (1939)
* Thornhill v. Alabama (1940)
* Martin v. City of Struthers (1943)
* Niemotko v. Maryland (1951)
* Edwards v. South Carolina (1963)
* Cox v. Louisiana (1965)
* Brown v. Louisiana (1966)
* Adderley v. Florida (1966)
* Carroll v. Town of Princess Anne (1968)
* Coates v. City of Cincinnati (1971)
* Org. for a Better Austin v. Keefe (1971)
* USPS v. Council of Greenburgh Civic Assns. (1981)
* United States v. Grace (1983)
* Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence (1984)
* Frisby v. Schultz (1988)
* Ward v. Rock Against Racism (1989)
* Burson v. Freeman (1992)
* Madsen v. Women's Health Center, Inc. (1994)
* Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York (1997)
* Hill v. Colorado (2000)
* McCullen v. Coakley (2014)

|

Designated
public forum|

* Widmar v. Vincent (1981)
* Rosenberger v. Univ. of Virginia (1995)
* Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski (2021)

Nonpublic
forum|

* Lehman v. Shaker Heights (1974)
* Brown v. Glines (1980)
* Perry Education Association v. Perry Local Educators' Association (1983)
* Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense Fund (1985)
* International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. v. Lee (1992)
* Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes (1997)
* Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky (2018)

Compelled speech|

* Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940)
* West Virginia State Board of Ed. v. Barnette (1943)
* Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo (1974)
* Wooley v. Maynard (1977)
* Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins (1980)
* Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Utilities Comm'n of California (1986)
* Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston (1995)
* Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic & Institutional Rights, Inc. (2006)
* National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra (2018)
* 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis (2023)
* Moody v. NetChoice, LLC (2024)

Compelled subsidy
of others' speech|

* Ry. Emps. Department v. Hanson (1956)
* Machinists v. Street (1961)
* Abood v. Detroit Board of Education (1977)
* Ellis v. Railway Clerks (1984)
* Chicago Local Teachers Union v. Hudson (1986)
* Communications Workers of America v. Beck (1988)
* Keller v. State Bar of California (1990)
* Lehnert v. Ferris Faculty Ass'n (1991)
* Glickman v. Wileman Brothers & Elliot, Inc. (1997)
* Board of Regents of the Univ. of Wisconsin System v. Southworth (2000)
* United States v. United Foods Inc. (2001)
* Johanns v. Livestock Marketing Ass'n (2005)
* Davenport v. Washington Education Ass'n (2007)
* Locke v. Karass (2008)
* Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association (2009)
* Knox v. SEIU, Local 1000 (2012)
* Harris v. Quinn (2014)
* Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association (2016)
* Janus v. AFSCME (2018)

| Compelled representation|

* Steele v. Louisville & N.R. Co (1944)
* Minnesota Board for Community Colleges v. Knight (1984)

|

Government grants
and subsidies|

* Regan v. Taxation with Representation of Washington (1983)
* Rust v. Sullivan (1991)
* National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley (1998)
* Legal Services Corp. v. Velazquez (2001)
* USAID v. Alliance for Open Society International I (2013)
* USAID v. Alliance for Open Society International II (2020)

Government
as speaker|

* Pleasant Grove City v. Summum (2009)
* Walker v. Texas Div., Sons of Confederate Veterans (2015)
* Matal v. Tam (2017)
* Iancu v. Brunetti (2019)
* Houston Community College System v. Wilson (2022)
* Shurtleff v. City of Boston (2022)
* Vidal v. Elster (2024)

Loyalty oaths|

* American Communications Ass'n v. Douds (1950)
* Garner v. Board of Public Works (1951)
* Speiser v. Randall (1958)
* Keyishian v. Board of Regents (1967)
* Communist Party of Indiana v. Whitcomb (1974)

School speech|

* Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940)
* West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)
* Tinker v. Des Moines Ind. Community School Dist. (1969, substantial disruption)
* Healy v. James (1972)
* Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982)
* Bethel School District v. Fraser (1986)
* Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)
* Westside Community Board of Ed. v. Mergens (1990)
* Rosenberger v. Univ. of Virginia (1995)
* Brentwood Academy v. Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Assn. (2001)
* Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Assn. v. Brentwood Academy (2007)
* Morse v. Frederick (2007)
* Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski (2021)
* Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. (2021)

Public employees|

* Pickering v. Board of Education (1968)
* Perry v. Sindermann (1972)
* Arnett v. Kennedy (1974)
* Elrod v. Burns (1976)
* Mt. Healthy City School Dist. Board of Ed. v. Doyle (1977)
* Givhan v. Western Line Consol. School Dist. (1979)
* Smith v. Arkansas State Hwy. Employees Local (1979)
* Connick v. Myers (1983)
* Rankin v. McPherson (1987)
* Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois (1990)
* Waters v. Churchill (1994)
* United States v. National Treasury Employees Union (1995)
* Board of Comm'rs, Wabaunsee Cty. v. Umbehr (1996)
* Brentwood Academy v. Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Assn. (2001)
* Garcetti v. Ceballos (2006)
* Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Assn. v. Brentwood Academy (2007)
* Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri (2011)
* Lane v. Franks (2014)
* Heffernan v. City of Paterson (2016)
* Kennedy v. Bremerton School Dist. (2022)

Hatch Act and
similar laws|

* Ex parte Curtis (1882)
* United Public Workers v. Mitchell (1947)
* U.S. Civil Service Comm'n v. National Ass'n of Letter Carriers (1973)
* Broadrick v. Oklahoma (1973)

Licensing and
restriction of speech|

* Mutual Film Corp. v. Industrial Comm'n of Ohio (1915)
* Cox v. New Hampshire (1941)
* Murdock v. Pennsylvania (1943)
* Kunz v. New York (1951)
* Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson (1952)
* Kingsley Books, Inc. v. Brown (1957)
* NAACP v. Button (1963)
* Railroad Trainmen v. Virginia Bar (1964)
* Freedman v. Maryland (1965)
* Mine Workers v. Illinois Bar Assn. (1967)
* Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. (1981)
* Hoffman Estates v. The Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc. (1982)
* Riley v. Nat'l Fed'n of the Blind (1988)
* Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement (1992)

Commercial speech|

* Valentine v. Chrestensen (1942)
* Rowan v. U.S. Post Office Dept. (1970)
* Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Comm'n on Human Relations (1973)
* Lehman v. Shaker Heights (1974)
* Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar (1975)
* Bigelow v. Virginia (1975)
* Virginia State Pharmacy Bd. v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (1976)
* Linmark Assoc., Inc. v. Township of Willingboro (1977)
* Carey v. Population Services International (1977)
* Bates v. State Bar of Arizona (1977)
* In re Primus (1978)
* Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Association (1978)
* Friedman v. Rogers (1979)
* Consol. Edison Co. v. Public Serv. Comm'n (1980)
* Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission (1980)
* Metromedia, Inc. v. San Diego (1981)
* In re R.M.J. (1982)
* Hoffman Estates v. The Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc. (1982)
* Zauderer v. Off. of Disciplinary Counsel of Supreme Court of Ohio (1985)
* Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Utilities Comm'n of California (1986)
* Posadas de Puerto Rico Assoc. v. Tourism Co. of Puerto Rico (1986)
* San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. U.S. Olympic Committee (1987)
* Shapero v. Kentucky Bar Association (1988)
* Riley v. Nat'l Fed'n of the Blind (1988)
* State University of New York v. Fox (1989)
* Peel v. Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of Illinois (1990)
* City of Cincinnati v. Discovery Network (1993)
* Edenfield v. Fane (1993)
* United States v. Edge Broadcasting Co. (1993)
* Ibanez v. Florida Dept. of Business and Professional Regulation, Bd. of Accountancy (1994)
* Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corp. (1995)
* Rubin v. Coors Brewing Co. (1995)
* Florida Bar v. Went For It, Inc. (1995)
* 44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island (1996)
* Glickman v. Wileman Brothers & Elliot, Inc. (1997)
* Greater New Orleans Broadcasting Assn., Inc. v. United States (1999)
* Los Angeles Police Department v. United Reporting Publishing Co. (1999)
* United States v. United Foods Inc. (2001)
* Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly (2001)
* Thompson v. Western States Medical Center (2002)
* Nike, Inc. v. Kasky (2003)
* Johanns v. Livestock Marketing Ass'n (2005)
* Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Assn. v. Brentwood Academy (2007)
* Milavetz, Gallop & Milavetz, P.A. v. United States (2010)
* Jerman v. Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer & Ulrich LPA (2010)
* Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc. (2011)
* Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman (2017)
* Matal v. Tam (2017)
* Iancu v. Brunetti (2019)
* Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants (2020)
* Vidal v. Elster (2024)

Campaign finance
and political speech|

* Buckley v. Valeo (1976)
* First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti (1978)
* California Medical Association v. FEC (1981)
* Citizens Against Rent Control v. City of Berkeley (1981)
* FEC v. National Right to Work Committee (1982)
* FEC v. National Conservative PAC (1985)
* FEC v. Massachusetts Citizens for Life (1986)
* Eu v. S.F. Cty. Democratic Cent. Comm. (1989)
* Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce (1990)
* Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. FEC (1996)
* Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC (2000)
* FEC v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee (2001)
* Republican Party of Minnesota v. White (2002)
* FEC v. Beaumont (2003)
* McConnell v. FEC (2003)
* Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. v. FEC (2006)
* Randall v. Sorrell (2006)
* FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. (2007)
* Davis v. FEC (2008)
* Citizens United v. FEC (2010)
* Nevada Commission on Ethics v. Carrigan (2011)
* Arizona Free Enterprise Club's Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett (2011)
* American Tradition Partnership, Inc. v. Bullock (2012)
* McCutcheon v. FEC (2014)
* Williams-Yulee v. Florida Bar (2015)
* Thompson v. Hebdon (2019)
* FEC v. Ted Cruz for Senate (2022)

Anonymous speech|

* NAACP v. Alabama (1958)
* Bates v. City of Little Rock (1960)
* Buckley v. Valeo (1976)
* Brown v. Socialist Workers '74 Campaign Committee (1982)
* McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Comm'n (1995)
* Doe v. Reed (2010)
* Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta (2021)

State action|

* Marsh v. Alabama (1946)
* Lloyd Corp. v. Tanner (1972)
* Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck (2019)
* Lindke v. Freed (2024)
* Murthy v. Missouri (2024)

Official retaliation|

* Hartman v. Moore (2006)
* Reichle v. Howards (2012)
* Wood v. Moss (2014)
* Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach (2018)
* Nieves v. Bartlett (2019)
* Egbert v. Boule (2022)
* Gonzalez v. Trevino (2024)
* National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo (2024)

Boycotts|

* NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co. (1982)
* FTC v. Superior Ct. TLA (1990)

Prisons|

* Procunier v. Martinez (1974)
* Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Union (1977)
* Turner v. Safley (1987)
* Shaw v. Murphy (2001)
* Overton v. Bazzetta (2003)
* Beard v. Banks (2006)

Freedom of the press

| Prior restraints
and censorship|

* Patterson v. Colorado (1907)
* Near v. Minnesota (1931)
* Lovell v. City of Griffin (1938)
* Tucker v. Texas (1946)
* Hannegan v. Esquire, Inc. (1946)
* Lamont v. Postmaster General (1965)
* New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)
* Pell v. Procunier (1974)
* Nebraska Press Ass'n v. Stuart (1976)
* Landmark Communications, Inc. v. Virginia (1978)
* Lowe v. SEC (1985)
* Tory v. Cochran (2005)

|

Privacy|

* Time, Inc. v. Hill (1967)
* Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn (1975)
* Florida Star v. B. J. F. (1989)

Taxation and
privileges|

* Grosjean v. American Press Co. (1936)
* Branzburg v. Hayes (1972)
* Houchins v. KQED, Inc. (1978)
* Minneapolis Star Tribune Co. v. Commissioner (1983)
* Arkansas Writers' Project v. Ragland (1987)
* Cohen v. Cowles Media Co. (1991)

Defamation|

* Beauharnais v. Illinois (1952)
* New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)
* Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts (1967)
* Greenbelt Cooperative Publishing Ass'n, Inc. v. Bresler (1970)
* Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. (1974)
* Time, Inc. v. Firestone (1976)
* Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. (1984)
* Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. (1985)
* McDonald v. Smith (1985)
* Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1988)
* Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton (1989)
* Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. (1990)
* Obsidian Finance Group, LLC v. Cox (9th Cir. 2014)

Broadcast media|

* Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC (1969)
* FCC v. Pacifica Foundation (1978)
* FCC v. WNCN Listeners Guild (1981)
* Denver Area Ed. Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. FCC (1996)
* Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. FCC (1997)
* Bartnicki v. Vopper (2001)

Copyrighted materials|

* Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co. (1977)
* Harper & Row v. Nation Enterprises (1985)
* Eldred v. Ashcroft (2003)

Freedom of assembly

| Incorporation|

* United States v. Cruikshank (1876)
* Presser v. Illinois (1886)

|

Protection from prosecution
and state restrictions|

* De Jonge v. Oregon (1937)
* Thomas v. Collins (1945)
* Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta (2021)

Freedom of association

| Organizations|

* Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. McGrath (1951)
* Watkins v. United States (1957)
* NAACP v. Alabama (1958)
* Bates v. City of Little Rock (1960)
* NAACP v. Button (1963)
* Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta (2021)

|

Future Conduct|

* Baggett v. Bullitt (1964)

Solicitation|

* In re Primus (1978)

Membership restriction|

* Hishon v. King & Spalding (1984)
* Roberts v. United States Jaycees (1984)
* Rotary Int'l v. Rotary Club of Duarte (1987)
* New York Club Ass'n v. City of New York (1988)
* Dallas v. Stanglin (1989)
* Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston (1995)
* Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2000)
* Christian Legal Society v. Martinez (2010)

Primaries and elections|

* Cousins v. Wigoda (1975)
* Democratic Party v. Wisconsin (1981)
* Tashjian v. Republican Party (1986)
* Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party (1997)
* California Democratic Party v. Jones (2000)
* Clingman v. Beaver (2005)
* New York State Board of Elections v. Lopez Torres (2008)
* Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party (2008)

Freedom to petition

* United States v. Cruikshank (1876)
* Thomas v. Collins (1945)
* Eastern Railroad Presidents Conference v. Noerr Motor Freight, Inc. (1961)
* NAACP v. Button (1963)
* Edwards v. South Carolina (1963)
* United Mine Workers v. Pennington (1965)
* Cox v. Louisiana (1965)
* California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited (1972)
* Smith v. Arkansas State Highway Employees (1979)
* McDonald v. Smith (1985)
* Meyer v. Grant (1988)
* Buckley v. American Constitutional Law Foundation (1999)
* BE and K Construction Co. v. National Labor Relations Board (2002)
* Doe v. Reed (2010)
* Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri (2011)

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