West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette is a Supreme Court case related to civil liberties whose ruling answered the question, "Is a compulsory flag-salute for public schoolchildren a violation of the First Amendment?" According to a precedent case (Minersville School District v. Gobitis) with the exact same circumstances as the Barnette case, there is no violation. However, the Supreme Court completely reverses the Gobitis ruling through the Barnette ruling. In 1942, the West Virginia State Board of Education enacted a rule after the decision on the Gobitis case, requiring students to salute the flag; refusal to do so was treated as insubordination and was punishable by expulsion and charges of delinquency. In addition, the parents of those students who were expelled were fined $50 every day since expelled students were considered “unlawfully absent.” Despite such a rule, the children of Walter Barnette and other Jehovah’s …show more content…
Interestingly, despite the issues of religion surrounding the case, the decision was reached due to a completely different reasoning; that the government cannot force anyone to express orthodox beliefs that are at odds with their conscience and values. According to the justices that ruled in favor of Barnette, the flag salute, in addition to the pledges, is a “form of utterance.” By enforcing a compulsory flag salute, the state board of education was creating a “compulsory unification of opinion,” inconsistent with the values of the First Amendment. The three other justices believed that the rules laid out by the state board of education was completely constitutional. Representing the dissenting judges, Justice Felix Frankfurter said, in essence, that the legislation was within the scope of power of the state because it encourages "good citizenship and national allegiance." Nevertheless, the case was decided in Barnette's
This case Tinker v. Des Moines Schools was a very interesting case argued in 1968. A lawsuit was filed against the school after three students, Two of which in high school and one in middle school were suspended from school. The school suspended the students for wearing black armbands protesting the Vietnam war. Two other students wore armbands, but were in elementary school and weren't suspended. The students were fifteen year old John Tinker, sixteen year old Christopher Eckhardt, and thirteen year old Mary Beth Tinker.
Sukhsharn Kaur Johal Phil 4401 Dr. Nagel 28 August 2015 Loving v. Virginia This situation creates concern in that it brings up questions about how this case was handled by the State of Virginia and the Supreme Court of Appeals. Were Virginia anti-miscegenation laws constitutional?
Kelis Guzmán Mr. Rodriguez American Literature 19 June, 2023 1970’s West Virginia During the 1970's West Virginia was known for its scenic mountain beauty, as it is the only state that is completely within the Appalachian Mountain region. Hence its nickname the Mountain State. It is also known for its outdoor recreation, coal production and surplus. Most of West Virginia was composed of 1,744,237 people in total as this was a time of increase in population.
“He was charged under a Texas statute that prohibited desecration of a venerated object (including...a state or national flag).” In 1984, Gregory Lee Johnson burned the American flag as part of his demonstration against nuclear weapons. It started as an organized protest along the streets of Dallas, and ended up being an offensive act to witnesses of the scene. One could attempt to justify Gregory’s unlawful action as an expression of his First Amendment. However, as a justice on the US Supreme Court, I would have to agree with opinion B, because it appropriately supports the reason for Johnson’s conviction.
The Goss vs. Lopez case was argued to the Supreme Court in October, 6, 1974. Nine students, including Dwight Lopez were suspended for misconduct and the destruction of school property. The students reportedly obstructed the learning environment of other students. The students felt that the suspension against them was unconstitutional. Among the ten students, Dwight Lopez argued that the suspension was an act of violation of the fourteenth amendment.
At first, Engel’s case was refused by Justice Bernard S. Meyer because he concluded that school prayer did not interfere with the public’s rights under the First Amendment. Later with the time, Engel did not give up on the case and took it to the Supreme Court instead of the New York Court of Appeals where it was reviewed for the second time. Finally, on June 25, 1962, the final decision was given and it declared the law unconstitutional (“Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale” 1). The opinion of the court was 6-1 in were six of them were concurrence and one of them dissented (Skelton 1). The author of the people who were concurrence was William Orville Douglas.
The issue in this case was whether school-sponsored nondenominational prayer in public schools violates the Establishment clause of the first amendment (Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale, n.d.). This case dealt with a New York state law that had required public schools to open each day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a nondenominational prayer in which the students recognized their dependence upon God (Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale, n.d.). This law had also allowed students to absent themselves from this activity if they found that it was objectionable. There was a parent that sued the school on behalf of their child. Their argument was that the law violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as made applicable
According to the First Amendment, Congress cannot forbid freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits United States citizens from being denied rights (US Const.). In the Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District Trial, seven students wore black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. The incident occurred in December to encourage a ceasefire between North Vietnam and South Vietnam over the holidays. The students were immediately suspended after wearing the controversial armbands (LII).
The plaintiff’s argument was that the student’s suspension was unconstitutional and the confederate flag is a part of his heritage. The district court ruled the school’s dress code policy unconstitutionally
Vitale. The case of Engel v. Vitale was brought up by a group of families from New Hyde park, New York, they were up against the voluntary prayer written by the state board to God, in other words, the study board wrote a Christian prayer up for public students who wants it. A group of parent under their leader Steven Engel(a jihadist) were not Christians and they believed this prayer contradicted their religion, they argued opening a public school with such prayer violates the clause of the first Amendment and the fourteenth amendment. At the end of this case, the court ruled government- written prayers may not be recited in public schools because it violates the first amendment. However these public school students were given a choice they were not forced to pray this prayer, moreover, this particular prayer was not sponsored by taxpayer’s money.
The jury in the appellate court was divided which meant by default Tinker would have lost the case because the ruling was upheld from the first district court. Soon thereafter, the civil liberties union who was responsible for supporting the activism of the bill of rights picked up the case sending it to SCOTUS. This was a significant case therefore SCOTUS decided to hear the case. Finally, at the SCOTUS hearing, the court sided with Tinker on a 7-2 vote, stating that their rights were violated because there wasn’t any significant distraction to the schools learning environment.
Texas v. Johnson (1989) was a Supreme court case deciding whether or not flag burning is supported by “symbolic speech” protected by the first amendment. Gregory Lee Johnson is caught burning the American flag in Dallas, Texas in 1989 to protest Ronald Reagan`s policies. When Johnson had burned the flag during the protest the state of Texas arrested him for desecrating a venerated object. Although Johnson did not hurt or threaten to hurt anyone witnesses and spectators claimed to be seriously offended by seeing Johnson burn the flag. Most of the people in the courtroom were sided with Gregory Johnson supporting the fact that flag burning is considered as symbolic speech which is protected by the first amendment.
On June 25, 1962, a Supreme Court case, Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421, was decided. The lawsuit was brought to the United States Supreme Court by parents (of students who attended schools in the Herricks School District) who complained that a nondenominational prayer instituted by the New York Board of Regents in their district was unconstitutional. The parents argued that the prayer, although optional, violated their First Amendment Rights. When the 6-1 (two justices did not vote) decision was made, it was ruled that voluntary prayer in public schools violates the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. One concurring opinion was given, and the single judge that did not vote the same as the rest provided
As we all know today’s school are a lot different than those in the 1960’s. During the 1960’s is was tradition to open each and every day with a nondenominational prayer, along with the Pledge of Allegiance. Today, prayer is accepted in schools as long as it is led by the student themselves, and not the teacher. In 1962 the case of Engel vs. Vitale went to the Supreme Court based off the idea of whether school sponsored prayer violates the First Amendment Establishment Clause. At this time there was a general law in New York State that required every school within the state to open each day with the Pledge of Allegiance, and a prayer that did not restrict denomination.
5 Brown v. Board of Education There were many arguments both for and against school segregation. One was the claim that educational decisions were to be left to the state and local courts, and not to be decided by the Supreme Court. Another was that students should be taught where they are most comfortable learning. It was thought that white children were more comfortable learning with white children and the same goes for African-American children. Also, students must be given and equal learning environment, not the same school.