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Schenck vs. US
Charles Schenck and Elizabeth Baer gave out pamphlets that went against the draft. They got taken to jail because it went against the espionage act of 1917. They took it to court under the thought that it violated the first amendment. The court decided to keep them in jail because they had tried to cause a commotion in order to get people to dodge the draft. -
Debs vs. US
the first amendment didn't protect anti-war speech designed to get people away from recruitment. Debs was famous for his anti- war speeches. He had delivered one, then got arrested for it. Once he took it to court, they ruled with the US because it followed along the same lines as the Schenck vs. US case. -
Chaplinsky vs. New Hampshire
Chaplinsky was using the sidewalk as a pulpit downtown. He was also handing out pamphlets that called organized religion a racket. People began to crowd around him and caused a scene. The police arrested the man because he began to shout at them. The case was ruled in favor of Chaplinsky because it went against the first amendment. -
West virginia vs. Barnette
Before this came into argument, the children had to say the pledge of allegiance and salute the flag. The children of a Jehovah's witness refused to perform the salute, they got sent home. Once this case came about, the court ruled that it was unconstitutional for the state to make the people salute to the flag. It went against the freedom of opinion. -
Brandenburg vs. Ohio
Brandenburg was the leader of the Ku Klux Klan at the time. He had made a speech that was meant to bring new people into the klan. Ohio filed that the speech had made an attempt to persuade people to commit terrorism. The court decided that the speech was not intended to cause chaos, and that they can not take way the 1st and 14th amendment. -
Tinker vs. Des Moines
five students decided that they wanted to protest Vietnam by wearing black armbands. Des Moines said that the children had to be suspended until they agreed to stop. The court said that they should have the right to peacefully protest their own ideas without being threatened. Especially since they were not causing any harm to the people around them. -
Cohen vs. California
A teenager expressed his hate for the Vietnam war by wearing a jacket that said "stop the war". He had been charged with disturbing the peace and offensive conduct. The court ruled for Paul because they said it didn't point towards anyone. -
Reno vs. ACLU
many people wanted to challenge the communications decency act, which protected minors from obscene language and pictures on the internet. But once it went to court, they decided that it went against the first amendment because it tried to restrict the freedom of speech. -
Virginia vs. Hicks
the Richmond Redevelopment and housing authority passed a law that said that if someone had no reason to be in the area, they will be arrested for trespassing. Hicks got arrested and convicted of this. The court ruled that it was unjust because Hicks had not known about this policy before he had arrived. -
Morse vs. Frederick
A student named Joseph made a banner that said "Bong hits 4 Jesus". He got suspended for 10 days. Joseph sued the school under the argument that they took away his right to freedom of speech. The court ruled in favor of Joseph because the school had tried to punish him for the message, not the disturbance.
