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West Virginia v. Barnette (1943)
The West Virginia Board’s policy requiring students and teachers to recite the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional. The Court held government cannot “force citizens to confess by word or act their faith” in matters of opinion. -
School District of Abington Township, Pennsylvania v. Schempp (1963)
The Court considered whether a Pennsylvania law and policy of the Abington School District requiring public-school students to participate in classroom exercises involving daily Bible verse reading violated the religious freedom of students under the First Amendment. the Court found that the Pennsylvania law and school-district practice violated the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. -
Garrison v. Louisiana (1964)
Louisiana law that punished true statements made with “actual malice” was overturned. The Court ruled that unless a newspaper shows “reckless disregard for the truth,” it is protected under the First Amendment. -
Epperson v. Arkansas (1968)
The Court looked at whether an Arkansas law prohibiting the teaching of evolution violated the free-speech rights of teachers and/or the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.The Court further ruled that the First Amendment does not permit a state to require teaching and learning to be tailored to the principles or prohibitions of any religious sect or dogma. -
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 1969
l students wore black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War. They were suspended from school for refusing to remove them. They sued the district for violating their 1st Amendment rights.The school did violate the students’ rights. Non-disruptive, passive, symbolic speech cannot be censored just because it makes others uncomfortable -
Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
The Court considered whether a Pennsylvania law reimbursing religious schools with state funds for textbooks and teacher salaries for non-public, non-secular schools violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The Court struck down the Pennsylvania law as in violation of the Establishment Clause, finding that the statute constituted an excessive government entanglement with religion. -
Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)
The Court examined whether the state of Wisconsin’s requirement that all parents send their children to school at least until age 16 violated the First Amendment by criminalizing the conduct of parents who refused to send their children to school for religious reasons. the Court ruled that Amish adolescents could be exempt from the state law requiring school attendance for all 14 to 16-year-olds, because their religion required living apart from the world and worldly influence. -
Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart (1976)
A judge’s order that the media not publish or broadcast statements by police in a murder trial was an unconstitutional prior restraint. The gag order violated the First Amendment rights of the press and the community. -
Lynch v. Donnelly (1984)
The Court considered whether the city of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by including a nativity scene in the Christmas display in a public park, among other figures and decorations traditionally associated with Christmas. In a 5-4 decision, held that “notwithstanding the religious significance of the creche, the city of Pawtucket has not violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. -
Hustler v. Falwell (1988)
The First Amendment prohibits public figures from recovering damages for intentional infliction of emotional harm unless the publication contained a false statement made with actual malice. -
Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District (1993)
The Court examined whether, based on the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, a school district may refuse to provide a sign-language interpreter to accompany a deaf student to classes at a religious high school. In a 5-4 ruling, the Court held that the Establishment Clause does not prevent a school district from furnishing a disabled child. -
Morse v. Frederick, 2007
A public school student was suspended for displaying a banner promoting drug use at a school event.As the runners passed by, a senior named Joseph Frederick, with the help of others, held up a 14-foot banner that read: “BONG HiTS 4 JESUS.” Mr. Frederick sued the school, and the principal, for violating his rights. The school and principal did not violate the student’s rights. Schools can regulate speech that conflicts with school anti-drug policies.
