What Supreme Court case uses the First Amendment?
Asked by: Mrs. Alvena Brekke | Last update: February 1, 2026Score: 4.5/5 (18 votes)
Countless Supreme Court cases use the First Amendment, covering free speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition, with landmark examples including Tinker v. Des Moines (student speech), New York Times v. Sullivan (defamation/public officials), Brandenburg v. Ohio (incitement), and Engel v. Vitale (school prayer). These cases define the boundaries of expression, from political protest to social media communication, often balancing individual rights with public interest.
What Supreme Court cases deal with the First Amendment?
First Amendment Activities
- Cox v. New Hampshire. Protests and freedom to assemble.
- Elonis v. U.S. Social media and free speech.
- Engel v. Vitale. Prayer in schools and freedom of religion.
- Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier. Student newspapers and free speech.
- Morse v. Frederick. ...
- Snyder v. Phelps. ...
- Texas v. Johnson. ...
- Tinker v. Des Moines.
What Supreme Court case incorporated the First Amendment?
This process is known as incorporation. Gitlow v. New York—decided in 1925—was the first Supreme Court decision applying the First Amendment's free speech protections to abuses by state governments. There, Benjamin Gitlow was arrested for distributing a “Left-Wing Manifesto,” which advocated socialism in America.
What was the Baker v. Carr case about?
Carr. Baker v. Carr involved a claim that the Tennessee legislature had failed to reapportion the state's legislative districts in accordance with the state constitution.
What happened in Texas v Johnson 1989?
The court first found that Johnson's burning of the flag was expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment. The court concluded that the State could not criminally sanction flag desecration in order to preserve the flag as a symbol of national unity.
Five Court Cases That Defined the First Amendment
Did Johnson go to jail for burning the flag?
Johnson was eventually convicted under Texas' flag desecration law, which prohibited anyone from intentionally or knowingly desecrating a flag in a way they knew would seriously offend someone else. He was sentenced to a year in jail and fined $2,000.
Is burning the flag protected by the First Amendment?
ISSUE Whether flag burning constitutes "symbolic speech" 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.
What was the constitutional question in Reynolds v United States?
Summary. Reynolds was decided in a time of westward expansion and the growth of the Mormon Church, particularly in Utah. The question raised was whether sincere religious beliefs exempted a practicing member of the Mormon Church from the laws against polygamy.
Why was the Civil Rights Act of 1875 deemed unconstitutional?
The Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional in 1883. In a consolidated case, known as the Civil Rights Cases, the court found that the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution granted Congress the right to regulate the behavior of states, not individuals.
How does the 14th Amendment relate to Baker v. Carr?
Baker v. Carr (1962) is the U.S. Supreme Court case that held that federal courts could hear cases alleging that a state's drawing of electoral boundaries, i.e. redistricting, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution.
Which Supreme Court case affirmed 1st amendment rights in schools?
Tinker v. Des Moines is a historic Supreme Court ruling from 1969 that cemented students' rights to free speech in public schools. Mary Beth Tinker was a 13-year-old junior high school student in December 1965 when she and a group of students decided to wear black armbands to school to protest the war in Vietnam.
What is the most famous US Supreme Court case?
In 1954, the Supreme Court declared in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. The decision itself was transformative, and equally as remarkable is the fact that it was unanimous.
What speech is not allowed under the First Amendment?
Speech not protected by the First Amendment generally falls into categories like incitement to immediate violence, true threats, defamation (libel/slander), obscenity, child pornography, and speech integral to criminal conduct (like fraud), as well as "fighting words" that provoke immediate violence, though this category is narrowly applied. These exceptions allow government restriction because they don't contribute to the marketplace of ideas and often directly cause harm.
Which Supreme Court case incorporated the First Amendment?
New York, 268 U.S. 652 (1925) The First Amendment does not prevent the government from punishing political speech that directly advocates its violent overthrow. After President William McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist in Buffalo in 1901, the state of New York passed a Criminal Anarchy Law.
What happened in the New York Times v Sullivan case?
New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) is a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that First Amendment freedom of speech protections limit the ability of public officials to sue for defamation. The case emerged out of a dispute over a full-page advertisement run by supporters of Dr.
What is the FSC v Paxton case?
Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton, 606 U.S. 461 (2025), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case allowing states to require Internet pornography websites to verify the age of viewers in order to prevent access by minors.
What did the Supreme Court declare unconstitutional in 1883?
In 1883, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1875, forbidding discrimination in hotels, trains, and other public spaces, was unconstitutional and not authorized by the 13th or 14th Amendments of the Constitution.
Why was the judiciary act of 1789 deemed unconstitutional?
He then held that the section of the Judiciary Act of 1789 that gave the Supreme Court the power to issue writs of mandamus was not constitutional (because it exceeded the authority allotted to the Court under Article III of the Constitution) and, therefore, was null and void.
What happened in 1875 in the US?
March 1 – The United States Congress passes the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination in public accommodations and jury duty. President Grant authorizes issue of a twenty-cent piece (abolished 3 years later). The Page Act of 1875 is enacted.
What did the Supreme Court declare unconstitutional in Citizens United?
The majority opinion, authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy, held that the prohibition of all independent expenditures by corporations and unions in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act violated the First Amendment.
Why is polygamy not protected under the First Amendment?
In Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145 (1879), the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a federal law prohibiting polygamy did not violate the free exercise clause of the First Amendment. The Court's decision was among the first to hold that the free exercise of religion is not absolute.
Which famous U.S. Supreme Court case rejected that separate but equal was constitutional?
Brown v. Board of Education did more than reverse the “separate but equal” doctrine. It reversed centuries of segregation practice in the United States. This decision became the cornerstone of the social justice movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
What was Johnson's punishment for burning the flag?
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed. Activist Gregory Lee Johnson was convicted for burning an American flag during a protest outside the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas, and was fined $2,000 and sentenced to one year in jail in accordance with Texas law.
Is flying a flag free speech?
Freedom of speech extends well beyond the right to speak (or not), to include acts of expression such as writing books, creating art, wearing your favorite clothes and flying flags in your yard — or even burning one in protest.
Does the U.S. really have freedom of speech?
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, an amendment essential to the success of our Republic, enshrines the right of the American people to speak freely in the public square without Government interference.