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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
In 1215, the Magna Carta was published. This document states that no person, including king or lawmaker, is above the law. This will establish a future for the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. -
Petition of Right
This important document sets out the rights and liberties of the common man as opposed to the prerogatives of the crown and expresses many of the ideals that later led to the American Revolution. -
Virginia Declaration of Rights
The Virginia Declaration is the first bill of rights to be included in a state constitution in America. -
Declaration of Independence
The Continental Congress adopts the final draft of the Declaration of Independence. -
Sedition Act
Congress passes the Sedition Act, which forbids spoken or printed criticism of the U.S. government, the Constitution or the flag. -
Schenck v. U.S.
In Schenck v. U.S., U.S. Supreme Court Justice Holmes sets forth his clear-and-present-danger test: “whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has the right to prevent.” ” Justice Holmes also writes that not all speech is protected by the First Amendment, citing the now-famous example of falsely crying “fire” in a crowded theater. -
Goodbye Sedition!
Congress repeals the Sedition Acts. -
DeJonge v. Oregon
U.S. Supreme Court reverses the conviction of an individual under a state criminal syndicalism law for participation in a Communist party political meeting. The Court writes that “peaceable assembly for lawful discussion cannot be made a crime. The holding of meetings for peaceable political action cannot be proscribed.” -
Life
Life magazine is banned in the U.S. for publishing pictures from the public health film “The Birth of a Baby.” -
Cantwell v. Connecticut
In Cantwell v. Connecticut, the U.S. Supreme Court holds for the first time that the due-process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment makes the free-exercise clause of the First Amendment applicable to states. -
Burstyn v. Wilson
U.S. Supreme Court, for the first time, finds that motion pictures are included within the free-speech and free-press guaranty of the First Amendment. The Court finds a New York statute that permits the banning of motion pictures on the ground that they are “sacrilegious” to be unconstitutional after the New York State Board of Regents rescinds the license of the distributor of the film “The Miracle” to show the film in the state -
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District
The Supreme Court rules that Iowa public school officials violated the FirstAmendment rights of several students by suspending them for wearing black armbands to protest U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The Court determines that school officials may not censor student expression unless they can reasonably forecast that the expression will cause a substantial disruption of school activities.
