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Schenck v. United States
Charles Schenck was convicted for violating the Espionage Act, which made it illegal to interfere with military or naval operations. He published pamphlets calling for men to resist the military draft. He argued that the 1st Amendment upheld his freedom of speech. The Supreme Court ruled against Schenck and said freedom of speech could be restricted if the speech presented an obvious danger to the country. -
Near v. Minnesota
The Saturday Press of Minneapolis printed articles accusing local officials of being involved with gangsters.The state tried to sue them for defamation. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Near, stating that the law allowing Minnesota to file for an injunction was unconstitutional. -
Engel v. Vitale
New York State organized a short voluntary prayer at the start of each school day. Organizations challenged the prayer and claimed that it went against the 1st Amendment's freedom of religion. The Supreme Court ruled that in a public school, a prayer could not be held or organized by the school, no matter what religion. -
Wisconsin v. Yoder
Jonas Yoder was a representative of the Amish in WIsconsin. They were prosecuted because they refused to send their kids to school past 8th grade, which violated Wisconsin law. They believed this challenged their freedom of religion. -
Miller v. California
California convicted Miller for the distribution and mailing of "adult" material. He appealed to court under the First Amendment speech guarantee. The court held that obscene materials were not protected under the First Amendment. -
Buckley v. Valeo
Congress passed a series of laws limiting restricting financial contributions to political campaigns to prevent corruption. Senator Buckley of the New York Conservatives questioned as to whether it violated the freedom to speech and association and filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of the Senate Francis Valeo. The Supreme Court ruled it did not violate the First Amendment. -
Texas v. Johnson
Gregory Lee Johnson was sued by the state of Texas for burning an American flag outside of the Dallas City Hall. The case went to the Supreme Court and they ruled that this was protected political expression under the First Amendment. -
United States v. Eichman
Eichman burned a flag on the steps of the US Capitol building. This violated the Flag Protection Act passed in 1989. Eichman challenged the constitutionality of the Act and the freedom of expression. The law was struck down by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling in favor of Eichman. -
Virginia v. Black
Barry Black was convicted of burning a cross on someone's property with the intent to intimidate. He questioned the constitutionality of the intent to intimidate statute. The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of Virginia. -
Morse v. Frederick
Joseph Frederick held up a banner that said "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" at a school event. When the school suspended him for 10 days, he sued the school under his first amendment freedom of speech. The Supreme Court ruled that schools and school officials can stop students from promoting illegal substance and drug usage.
