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Schenck v. United States
Way back when world war 1 was going on Charles Schenck and Liz Baer were sending out messages saying that the draft violated the 13 amendment. The message was basically saying for people to peacefully boycott the draft. This was very upsetting to the government and was taken to the supreme court.
The court ruled in a unanimous decision that this wasn't protected under the first amendment because it doesn't protect citizens when they are trying to break laws in the process. -
Near v. Minnesota
The case was saying that a local newspaper publication was causing a nuisance because what was publish was considered "malicious, scandalous, and defamatory,". Mr. Jay Near and Mr. Howard Gilford made a comment saying that local officials were involved with gang activity. The two men were being put on trial because the state said the paper was causing a nuisance The decision was ruled 5-4 in favor of Near saying that taking away the publication was in violation of our first amendment rights. -
Pickering v. Board of Education
Marvin Pickering a teacher at Lockport High was upset after a referendum to raise taxes to help out academics was voted against. He wrote a letter to the school board expressing his anger that most of the budget is saved for athletics over academics. The school board was mad about him calling them out took him to court.
The case was brought all the way to the supreme court in an 8-1 ruling in favor of Pickering saying his letter was within his constitutional right under the 1st amendment. -
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
In the winter of 1965 a group of high school students banned together to peacefully protest the Vietnam war. The school that the students attended heard about their ideas to wear black arm bands they made a rule saying that kids who part took in the protest will be removed & expelled. Some of the kids followed through and were punished. They took this all way to the supreme court.
The court ruled a 7-2 in favor of the students. It was said that the kids weren't causing a disturbance and was ok. -
Miller v. California
Marvin Miller was an advertiser sending out a mass mailing letter. The advertisement was for the purchase of "adult" materials. People who received this mailing letter were extremely offended by the advertisement. The police were called on him a lot. This brought on the legal proceedings with the case.
This went all the way to the supreme court with a 5-4 decision against Miller. They came up with the decision that "adult" materials aren't protected by the 1st Amendment. -
Wooley v. Maynard
In New Hampshire it was a state law to have the states motto "Live Free or Die" on your license plate. George Maynard a New Hampshire Jehovah's Witness was offended by the motto and felt it went against his religion. He cut of the part that says or Die. He was arrested and took the case to the Supreme Court.
The court ruled 6-3 in Maynard's favor saying that it was unconstitutional and went against the 1st amendment to force the citizens of the state to have the quote on their license plates. -
Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation
There was an afternoon radio show in Cali. On the show they were using extremely vulgar language. A pre warning was given saying that they language may be found offensive to some viewers. The FCC received several complaints on the matter which brought this to the Supreme Court.
The Court ruled 5-4 in favor of Paul Stevens saying that the government does reserve the right to censor what is said on air and that such vulgar language wasn't going against our 1st amendment speech rights. -
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier
At Hazelwood East High School the students write & edit their own newspaper. It was brought to the attention of the principal that two of the articles in the May edition were inappropriate. The students were asked to remove the articles from the paper. The kids were upset by this & brought the case to the Supreme court.
The court ruled in a 5-3 decision saying that the school did not violate any rights under the 1st amendment b/c it was a school run function & schools have the right to censor. -
Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell
In an issue of Hustlers magazine back in 1983 there was a "parody" advertisement modeled after an ad campaign. The ad insinuated that Falwell had a drunken inappropriate encounter with his mother in an outhouse. Falwell sued the magazine and took the case to the supreme court.
The court ruled 8-1 in favor of Falwell b/c the ad was false and caused distress to his life. This violates the free speech amendment because it was a direct attack on Falwell. -
United States v. American Library Assn., Inc.
Back in 2000 congress passed the Children's Internet Protection Act saying that all libraries had to install internet filtering systems on all computers to protect what is looked up on the computer. The consequence for not following through with the CIPA was to be cut off from gov funding. The ALA came back saying it was against the 1st amendment rights of their patrons.
The Supreme Court came back with a 6-3 ruling saying that the CIPA didn't go against the 1st amendment it protected children.
