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First Ammemdent
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Schenck vs. Unitied States
It lessened the strength of the First Amendment during times of war by removing its protections of the freedom of speech when that speech could incite a criminal action. Schenck was found guilty on all charges. -
Debs v. United States
Deb was originally protesting against the war, but the federal government thought he was trying to arouse mutiny and treason by preventing the drafting of soldiers into the US Military. The ruling of the court said that The Espionage Act of 1917 is constitutional, and Eugene V. Debs' conviction under this law is upheld. -
Abrams v. United States
The defendants were convicted on the basis of two leaflets they printed and threw from windows of a building in New York City. One leaflet, signed "revolutionists", denounced the sending of American troops to Russia. The defendants were charged and convicted of inciting resistance to the war effort and urging curtailment of production of essential war material. -
Gitlow v. New York
Gitlow v. New York was a decision by the Supreme Court holding that the Fourteenth Amendment had extended the First Amendment's provisions protecting freedom of speech and freedom of the press to apply to the governments of U.S. states. The ruling was, the defendant was properly convicted under New York's Criminal Anarchy Law because he disseminated newspapers that advocated the violent overthrow of the government. -
Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire
Walter Chaplinsky was walking on a public sidewalk while a large movement was happening and the cops pulled him to the side and brought him in to see the Marshall. Chaplinsky attacked the Marshall verbally and was later arrested. Chaplinsky soon got a criminal conviction for causing breach of the peace for using fighting words. -
West Virginia v. Barnette
West Virginia v. Barnette is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court holding that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment protects students from being forced to salute the American flag or say the Pledge of Allegiance in public school. -
United States v. O’Brien
O'Brien was an anti-war protester. He burned draft cards to get back at the government for going to war with Vietnam. United States v. O’Brien was a decision by the Supreme Court, which ruled that a criminal prohibition against burning a draft card did not violate the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech. -
Tinker v. Des Moines
In Des Moines 5 students wanted to wear black arm bands to protest against the war happening in veitiam. The Tinker family had been involved in civil rights activist before the student protest. The First Amendment did not permit a public school to punish a student for wearing a black armband as an anti-war protest -
Cohen v. California
Paul Cohen was a anti-war activist that did not want war. He got charged for wearing a "F**k the Draft" shirt in an California courthouse. Cohen was at court to testify as a defense witness in a hearing, and had removed his jacket on entering the courtroom. The First Amendment prohibits states from making the public display of a single four-letter expletive a criminal offense. -
Island Trees School District v. Pico
The Island Trees Board of Education received a list of books deemed inappropriate by Parents of New York United. The board temporarily removed the books from school libraries. They also formed a committee to renew the list to make sure this doesn't happen again. The First Amendment limits the power of local school boards to remove library books from Junior High and High Schools.
