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Schenck v. United States
Schenck and others had been accused of urging draftees to oppose the draft and "not submit to intimidation." The court ruled that not all speech is protected, saying the now famous example of falsely crying "fire" in a crowded theatre. -
Abrams v. United States
Supreme court ruled in favor of individuals who threw pamphlets that criticised the government and thier involvment in WWI off of rooftops into crowds of people. -
Stromberg v. California
Court recognizes that protected speech may be nonverbal, or a form of symbolic expression by overruling lower court decisions to convict Yetta Stromberg of violating state law by flying a red flag as a symbol that she did not support the government or it's actions. -
Grosjean v. American Press Co.
The Court concludes that a tax on newspaper advertising applied to newspapers with a circulation exceeding 20,000 copies per week unconstitutional because "it is seen to be a deliberate and calculated device in the guise of a tax to limit the circulation of information to which the public is entitled in virtue of the constitutional guaranties." -
DeJonge v. Oregon
Supreme Court reverses the conviction of an individual under a state criminal syndicalism law for participation in a Communist party political meeting. The Court writes that "peaceable assembly for lawful discussion cannot be made a crime. The holding of meetings for peaceable political action cannot be proscribed." -
Thornhill v. Alabama
The Court overturned the an Alabama law that prohibited loitering or picketting near businesses without a juast cause and legal excuse. -
Cantwell v. Connecticut
U.S. Supreme Court holds for the first time that the due-process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment makes the free-exercise clause of the First Amendment applicable to states. -
Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire
U.S. Supreme Court determines "fighting words" are not protected by the First Amendment. -
West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette
Court rules that a West Virginia requirement to salute the flag violates the free-speech clause of the First Amendment. -
Dennis v. United States
The Court finds that the Smith Act, a measure banning speech which advocates the violent overthrow of the federal government, does not violate the First Amendment. -
Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson
U.S. Supreme Court, for the first time, finds that motion pictures are included within the free-speech and free-press guaranty of the First Amendment. -
NAACP v. Alabama
Court states that the demand by Alabama officials for the NAACP to provide them a membership list violates members' associational rights. -
Engel v. Vitale
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that a state-composed, non-denominational prayer violates the the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment -
Sherbert v. Verner
A Seventh-day Adventist refused to worked on her sabbath day and South Carolina officials denied her unemployment-compensation benefits, violating her free-exercise rights. -
Lloyd Corporation, Ltd. v. Tanner
Court rules that owners of a shopping center may bar anti-war activists from distributing leaflets at the center. The Court finds that citizens do not have a First Amendment right to express themselves on privately owned property.
