U.S. GOVERNMENTMR. HAND

Supreme Court Cases;A Focus on the 1st

Amendment

Wallace v. Jaffree 1985

Ruled the Alabama moment of silence law as unconstitutional.

Reynolds v. U.S. 1879

Prevented Mormons from practicing polygamy because it “subverted good order”

Epperson v Arkansas 1968

Arkansas law forbidding the teaching of evolution was unconstitutional

Wolman v Walter 1977

Use of public money to buy textbooks for private school students is allowed but not to use for religious-based activities

Minersville v Gobitis 1940

The courts INITIAL decision that allowed students to be forced to say the pledge

Lemon v Kurtzman 1971

Established the three part “Lemon Test” to determine if a government action is too entangling with religion

Zorach v Clauson 1952

Releasing public school students early to attend religious classes at a church is permissible under the law

Engle v Vitale 1962

Struck down school prayer created by the board of education; (most commonly referred to “when they took prayer out of school”)

Lynch v Donnelly 1984

Ruled that it was legal to display the nativity scene on government property as long as other characters were displayed with it..(Rudolph, Santa..)

West Virginia Bd of Ed v. Barnette1943

Court ruled that a school CAN’T make a student say the pledge

Abington v Schemp 1963

Court prevented schools from starting the day with Bible readings and repeating the Lord’s Prayer

Sante Fe Independent School Dist. V Doe 2000

Allowing a student to pray over the PA system before a football is a violation of the Constitution

Edwards v Aguillard 1987

Struck down a Louisiana law requiring creation to be taught along evolution

County of Allegheney v ACLU 1989

A nativity scene inside a government building with a banner reading “Glory to God In the Highest” was ruled as unconstitutional

Tinker v DesMoines 1969

Students wearing black armbands as symbolic speech to protest the Vietnam War was allowable

Chaplinsky v New Hampshire 1942

The use of “fighting words” is not protected speech

Hustler Magazine v Falwell 1988

Court allows criticism of public figures, such as a TV minister, more so than private citizens

Hazelwood School District v Kuhlmeier 1988

School authorities have authority to limit speech in school setting as it relates to what is published in a school newspaper

Bethel School District v Fraser 1986

School authorities can limit student speech regarding speaking at an assembly

Scheneck v United States 1919

The protesters of WW I incited unlawful resistance to the government’s ability to draft men into war and created a “clear and present danger”; these actions were not considered as free speech by the court

United States v O’Brien 1968

Burning a draft card in protest of the Vietnam War is not free speech

United States v Eichman 1990

Court struck down the Federal Flag Protection Act; said burning a U.S. flag was “expressive speech”

Miller v California 1973

Established a test for determining if a book, move, TV program, etc… is obscene

Everson v Board of Education of New Jersey 1947

Law allows parents of private school students to be reimbursed for the cost of sending their students to private schools on public transportation

McCollum v Board of Education 1948

Privately paid teachers cannot hold religious classes in a public school