Court Cases

Wisconsin v. Yoder 1972 Jonas Yoder / Wallace Miller: Members of the Old Order Amish religion Prosecuted under Wisconsin law: required children attend public schools until age 16 3 parents refused to send their children school after the eighth grade: high school attendance was contrary to their religious beliefs.

Wisconsin v. Yoder Question: Does Wisconsin's law requiring parents to send their children to school until 16 violate the First Amendment rights of those who refused based on Religious beliefs?

Wisconsin v. Yoder Court held: individual's interests in the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment outweighed the State's interests in compelling school attendance beyond the eighth grade Values and programs of secondary school were "in sharp conflict with the fundamental mode of life mandated by the Amish religion” Concepts of Democracy?

Cohen v. California A 19-year-old department store worker expressed his opposition to the Vietnam War by wearing a jacket emblazoned with THE DRAFT. STOP THE WAR” Charged under a California statute that prohibits "maliciously and willfully disturb[ing] the peace and quiet of any neighborhood or person [by] offensive conduct Found guilty and sentenced to 30 days in jail.

Cohen v. California Did California's statute, prohibiting the display of offensive messages such as the Draft," violate freedom of expression as protected by the First Amendment? Yes

Cohen v. California 1970 Expletive, while provocative, was not directed toward anyone; besides, there was no evidence that people in substantial numbers would be provoked into some kind of physical action by the words on his jacket. "one man's vulgarity is another's lyric”. Concepts of Democracy?

Bolling v. Sharpe 1954 Based on their race, black children in Washington D.C. were denied admission to the same public schools which white children attended. Did the segregation of the public schools of Washington D.C. violate the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment?

Bolling v. Sharpe Yes Court found that racial discrimination in the public schools of Washington D.C. denied blacks due process of law as protected by the Fifth Amendment. Concepts of Democracy?

Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. Hialeah 1993 Practiced the Afro-Caribbean-based religion of Santeria Santeria used animal sacrifice as a form of worship in which an animal's carotid arteries would be cut and, except during healing and death rights, the animal would be eaten. City council adopted several ordinances addressing religious sacrifice. Ordinances prohibited possession of animals for sacrifice or slaughter, with specific exemptions for state- licensed activities.

Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. Hialeah 1993 Did the city of Hialeah's ordinance, prohibiting ritual animal sacrifices, violate the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause? Yes

Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. Hialeah 1993 Ordinances were neither neutral nor generally applicable The core failure of the ordinances was that they applied exclusively to the church. The ordinances singled out the activities of the Santeria faith and suppressed more religious conduct than was necessary to achieve their stated ends Concepts of Democracy?

Torcaso v. Watkins 1961 In the early 1960s, the Governor of Maryland appointed Roy Torcaso as a notary public. At the time, the Constitution of Maryland required "a declaration of belief in the existence of God" in order for a person to hold "any office of profit or trust in this State".

Torcaso v. Watkins Torcaso, an atheist, refused to make such a statement, and his appointment was consequently revoked. Torcaso, believing his constitutional rights to freedom of religious expression had been infringed, filed suit in a Maryland Circuit Court, only to be rebuffed.

Torcaso v. Watkins The Court unanimously found that Maryland's requirement for a person holding public office to state a belief in God violated 1 st and 14 th Amendments to the United States Constitution. Concepts of Democracy?

Texas v. Johnson In 1984, in front of the Dallas City Hall, Gregory Lee Johnson burned an American flag as a means of protest against Reagan administration policies. Johnson was tried and convicted under a Texas law outlawing flag desecration. He was sentenced to one year in jail and assessed a $2,000 fine.

Texas v. Johnson Is the desecration of an American flag, by burning or otherwise, a form of speech that is protected under the First Amendment? Yes, Court held that Johnson's burning of a flag was protected expression under the First Amendment.

Texas v. Johnson The fact that an audience takes offense to certain ideas or expression, the Court found, does not justify prohibitions of speech Concepts of Democracy?