Why did the Supreme Court allow schools to require flag salutes?
Gobitis, the Supreme Court upheld a state law requiring school children to salute the flag, despite religious objections by Jehovah Witnesses, who said the statutory requirement violated their religious liberties under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. Three years later, on June 14, 1943, in West Virginia Board of Education v.
Is the compulsory flag salute against Jehovah’s Witnesses religious freedom?
The district court held that the compulsory flag salute violated the religious freedom clause when enforced against the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the circuit court of appeals affirmed this decision. The school board appealed to the Supreme Court which, to the surprise of many, reversed the lower courts.
Should you salute the flag or recite the pledge of allegiance?
"Saluting the American flag and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance are forms of symbolic expression, the Court ruled. Refusing to salute the flag or recite the Pledge of Allegiance may be a form of political protest, the Court pointed out, or it may reflect a conscientious decision made by a person of devout religious belief.
What are the flag salute cases?
The two decisions have come to be known as the Flag Salute cases and are important for the First Amendment issues that were raised and decided.
What is the Supreme Court's argument as to why the mandatory salute of the flag in public schools is unconstitutional in West Virginia v Barnette?
In an opinion written by Robert Houghwout Jackson, the Court found that the First Amendment cannot enforce a unanimity of opinion on any topic, and national symbols like the flag should not receive a level of deference that trumps constitutional protections.
How have the courts ruled on saluting the flag?
The Court held that the right of free speech guaranteed in the First Amendment to the Constitution means the government cannot force anyone to salute the American flag or recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Why did the Minersville School Board and its lawyers claim that flag salute requirement was appropriate?
Lawyers for the Minersville School Board argued that the flag-salute requirement was a reasonable way to teach good citizenship to students. They claimed that it was strictly a “secular regulation” that had nothing to do with religion and everything to do with patriotic education.
Do you think the compulsory flag salute for public schoolchildren violated the First Amendment?
Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943), the Supreme Court invalidated a compulsory flag salute law in public schools and established that students possess some level of First Amendment rights.
Is it a law to salute the flag?
3.15 The Flag shall not be dipped in salute to any person or thing.
What religion does not pledge to the flag?
Jehovah's WitnessesJehovah's Witnesses refused to salute flag and pledge Their status as conscientious objectors also contributed to their unpopularity during World War II.
Why did the Gobitas children refuse to salute the flag?
In 1935, Lillian and William Gobitis were expelled from Pennsylvania public schools for refusing to salute the flag as part of a daily school exercise. The Gobitis children were Jehovah's Witnesses and believed that saluting the flag was forbidden by the Bible.
What was the Supreme Court decision related to the Jehovah's Witnesses objection to saluting the flag?
In 1940, in Minersville v. Gobitis, the Supreme Court upheld a state law requiring school children to salute the flag, despite religious objections by Jehovah Witnesses, who said the statutory requirement violated their religious liberties under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.
Do students have to stand for the pledge?
No, you do not have to stand up and take off your hat during the Pledge of Allegiance. In the 1943 case West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, the Supreme Court said students who objected to the flag salute and mandatory Pledge recitation for religious reasons could not be forced to participate.
Is flag burning protected by the First Amendment?
RULING Yes. REASONING (5-4) The majority of the Court, according to Justice William Brennan, agreed with Johnson and held that flag burning constitutes a form of "symbolic speech" that is protected by the First Amendment.
Does Under God violate the First Amendment?
The court held the Pledge, which includes the words "under God" added by a 1954 congressional statute, violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which provides that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."
Why did the students lawyers argue that wearing the armbands was protected by the First Amendment?
The court found that the First Amendment applied to public schools, and school officials could not censor student speech unless it disrupted the educational process. Because wearing a black armband was not disruptive, the court held that the First Amendment protected the right of students to wear them.
What are the rules for saluting?
At official functions, social events, and sporting events, Soldiers should— (1) When in uniform, outdoors, stand at attention, remain silent, face the flag, and render the hand salute. (2) When in uniform, indoors, stand at attention, remain silent, and face the flag.
Who is allowed to salute the flag?
During the ceremony of hoisting or lowering the flag or when the flag is passing in a parade or in review, all persons present in uniform should render the military salute. Members of the Armed Forces and veterans who are present but not in uniform may render the military salute.
Is it OK for veterans to salute the flag?
Federal law authorizes veterans to salute the flag in several situations: The Pledge of Allegiance (Title 4 USC section 4) During hoisting, lowering, or passing of the American flag (Title 4 USC section 9) National Anthem (Title 36 USC section 301)
Who can salute the national flag?
When the flag is in a moving column, persons present will stand at attention or salute as the flag passes them. A dignitary may take the salute without a head dress. The flag salutation should be followed by the playing of the national anthem.
Why should schools not salute the flag?
To allow children not to salute the flag or to recite the Pledge of Allegiance would weaken the effect of the collective patriotic exercise and thereby injure national unity and security. In his view, "The mere possession of religious convictions which contradict the relevant concerns of a political society does not relieve the citizen from the discharge of political responsibilities." Despite the fact that members of the Court disagreed that a compulsory flag salute was the best way to create national unity, the school district's error in judgment was not sufficient to declare their practice unconstitutional. In addition, the Court concluded that students would not be pulled away from their faith by reciting the pledge, because their parents had a much greater influence than the school in their religious faiths.
What is the Supreme Court ruling on salute and pledge?
Supreme Court, in an 8–1 decision, upheld the right of the school district to mandate the salute and pledge, concluding that school district's interest in creating national unity was enough to allow them to require students to salute the flag. Justice FELIX FRANKFURTER, in his majority opinion, rejected the idea that the freedom to follow religious conscience under the First Amendment was unlimited. Therefore, the Court needed to determine what standard to apply when reviewing religious-freedom issues. The Court opted for a BALANCING test, pitting the state's secular interests against the religious interests of the children.
What is the significance of saluting the flag?
"Saluting the American flag and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance are forms of symbolic expression, the Court ruled. Refusing to salute the flag or recite the Pledge of Allegiance may be a form of political protest, the Court pointed out, or it may reflect a conscientious decision made by a person of devout religious belief. In either case, the Court concluded, such symbolic expression is protected by the First Amendment. "If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation," the Court wrote, "it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein."
Why were the Gobitis expelled from school?
In the first case, Lillian and William Gobitis, ages ten and twelve, were expelled from the Minersville, Pennsylvania public schools in 1935 for failing to salute the flag and recite the Pledge ...
When was the flag salute first used?
Mark Alcorn. America’s most common form of paying respect to a national emblem or symbol, the flag salute with the Pledge of Allegiance, started as part of a nationwide public school observance in 1892 honoring the four-hundredth anniversary of Columbus’s discovery of America. Immediately it became popular and was widely ...
When did flag salutes become popular?
Immediately it became popular and was widely used in schools in every state. By 1935, twenty-four states had statutes requiring instruction in flag respect; nine specifically required that the flag salute ceremony be conducted regularly in all public schools. The Supreme Court has ruled that compelling schoolchildren to recite the Pledge ...
Why was Minersville School District v. Gobitis a case?
Gobitis (1940) —with Justice Felix Frankfurter writing for an 8-1 Court with Justice Harlan Fiske Stone dissenting—held that a child could constitutionally be expelled from public school for refusing to participate in the daily flag salute ceremony even though participation violates the child’s religious beliefs. Stone’s dissent stressed that the majority was upholding a law that coerced children to express a sentiment in violation of their deepest religious convictions.
Why did the Mennonites refuse the salute and pledge?
As early as 1918, the Mennonites, among others, refused the salute and pledge because they thought it implied a promise to bear arms, and for the most part, school officials chose to grant exemptions. This indulgence continued until the Jehovah’s Witnesses objected in the 1930s and 1940s.
How many states made the pledge compulsory?
Also as a result of the ruling, school districts in 31 states made the pledge compulsory and expelled over two thousand Witness children who refused to comply. Further complicating the situation was congressional passage of a joint resolution codifying the rules of flag etiquette.
What happened after 9/11?
After September 11, 2001, a surge of patriotism swept the country; several states passed laws requiring the recitation of the pledge with, in some cases, a caveat that students did not have to stand if they did not wish.
Why were the Witnesses so unpopular?
The Witnesses were decidedly unpopular in the 1930s and 1940s because of their methods of aggressive proselytizing and their repeated and severe condemnations of other religions. Their status as conscientious objectors also contributed to their unpopularity during World War II.
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