Midterm Review:
-cases-
Texas v. Johnson – 1st amendment
Gregory Lee Johnson burned an American flag outside of the convention center where the 1984
Republican National Convention was being held in Dallas, Texas. Johnson burned the flag to
protest the policies of President Ronald Reagan. He was arrested and charged with violating a
Texas statute that prevented the desecration of a venerated object, including the American flag,
if such action were likely to incite anger in others. A Texas court tried and convicted Johnson.
He appealed, arguing that his actions were "symbolic speech" protected by the First
Amendment. The Supreme Court agreed to hear his case. 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. The majority noted that freedom
of speech protects actions that society may find very offensive, but society's outrage alone is
not justification for suppressing free speech.
Tinker v. Des Moines – 1st amendment
At a public school in Des Moines, Iowa, students organized a silent protest against the Vietnam
War. Students planned to wear black armbands to school to protest the fighting but the principal
found out and told the students they would be suspended if they wore the armbands. Despite
the warning, students wore the armbands and were suspended. During their suspension the
students' parents sued the school for violating their children's right to free speech. A U.S. district
court sided with the school, ruling that wearing armbands could disrupt learning. The students
appealed the ruling to a U.S. Court of Appeals but lost and took their case to the United States
Supreme Court. In 1969 the United States Supreme Court ruled in a 7-2 decision in favor of the
students. The high court agreed that students' free rights should be protected and said,
"Students don't shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gates."
Hazelwood V. Kuhlmeier – 1st amendment
Journalism students in Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis produced a school sponsored
and funded newspaper called the Spectrum. One issue featured stories on teen pregnancy and
divorce. The school's principal thought the stories were inappropriate and prior to the
publication, he deleted the two pages containing the offensive stories without telling the
journalism students. The students were upset because they had not been given the opportunity
to make changes, and because several other non-offensive articles were also deleted when the
pages were removed. The students felt their First Amendment rights had been violated and took
their case to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The court sided with the
school, ruling that the school had the authority to remove the articles written as part of the
school's curriculum. The students appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Eighth Circuit. The appeals court reversed the lower court, finding that the paper was a "public
