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Reynolds v. United States
George Reynolds was a married man and then married another woman. Reynolds was charged with bigamy and he took this to the SCOTUS saying that this was a violation of his First Amendment right to free excersise of religion. He lost in 9-0 decision. The court said that nobody can avoid the law because of religion -
Whitney v. California
Whitney who was a founding member of the Communist Labor Party of California. She was prosecuted under California’s Criminal Syndicalism Act because she helped to organize a political group that pushed for economic and social change through violence. This went to the SCOTUS and in an unanimous decision went towards California. They said there is a restriction on the first amendment when one faces as a threat to society and can punished for it. -
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People v. Patterson
Alabama wanted to prevent the NAACP from assembling in their state. The circuit court issued a restraining order, asked for their business records, and a list of their members; NAACP refused. This went to the SCOTUS with a unanimous decision towards NAACP. Justice Harlan said the right to assemble is protected under the first amendment and is protected by the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment. -
Brown v. Louisiana
Brown entered a public library with 4 other blacks & requested a book. The library didn't have the book so it was requested from the state library. Brown was told how to get the book, & he then sat in the library with the 4 other blacks and refused to leave. They didn't create a disturbance, but were arrested. The decision went in Brown's favor with a 5-4 divide. Justice Fortas said people can only regulate in a "reasonably nondiscriminatory manner, equally applicable to all." -
United States v. O'Brien
A man by the name of David O'Brien burned his draft card to show is opposition to the war in a Boston Courthouse. He was arrested under a federal law that made the destruction of a draft card illegal. However, O'Brien says that his first amendment right was being infringed upon by being convicted of this crime. It was a 7-2 decision in the SCOTUS going towards the US. Justice Warren said "that a government regulation is sufficiently justified" under certain conditions. -
Cohen v. California
Paul Cohen was a 19-year-old who was wearing a jacket that said "F*** THE DRAFT. STOP THE WAR." He was charged under a California statute that prohibited "maliciously and willfully disturb[ing] the peace and quiet of any neighborhood or person [by] offensive conduct." He was found guilty and sentenced to 30 days in jail. He took this to the SCOTUS. They ruled towards Cohen saying that while provactive the saying won't provoke any violence. Harlan said "one man's vulgarity is another's lyric." -
New York Times Company v. United States
This case was decided with the case US v. Washington Post Co. In the "Pentagon Papers Case" Nixon tried to keep both publishing companies from publishing this in their papers on idea that this threatened national security. In a 6-3 decision going towards the publishing companies, Judge Black and Douglas said that the word security cannot be used loosely. They concluded that this was not a direct threat to American forces so his reasoning was unjustified. -
Wisconsin v. Yoder
Jonas Yoder, Wallace Miller, and Adin Yutzy were all practicing Amish who were prosecuted under a law in Wisconsin that required all children to attend school until the age of 16. This went to the SCOTUS because they said this law inhibited their first amendment right of freedom of religion. This was a unanimous decision that went towards Yoder. In conclusion, the judges said that freedom of religion outweighed the law that mandated school until the age of 16. -
Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico by Pico
Island Trees Union Free School District tried to remove books from their junior high and high school libraries on the basis that they were "anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and just plain filthy." Pico lost in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, however, they won in the SCOTUS. It was a 5-4 decision saying that school libraries have the rights of free speech and press. Thus, people could not restrict books in libraries simply because they don't like the ideas. -
Wallace v. Jaffree
There was a law in Alabama that allowed teachers to have religious prayer and activities during the school days in classrooms in public schools. 3 of Jaffree's children went to public school in Mobile and he argued that this violated the 1st amendment. In a 6-3 decision in the SCOTUS, they said that this law was unconstitutional. States needed to remain neutral when it came to religion.
