West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette 1943

• Author: Daniel Brannen, Richard Hanes, Elizabeth Shaw
• Pages: 174-178

Contenidos

• "I pledge allegiance to the flag…. "
• Play it again, Uncle Sam.
• Overruling Minersville.
• Suggestions for further reading.

Page 174

Appellants: West Virginia State Board of Education, et al.

Appellees: Walter Barnette, et al.

Appellants' Claim: That a law requiring students to salute the American flag and say "The Pledge of Allegiance" was constitutional.

Chief Lawyer for Appellants: W. Holt Wooddell

Chief Lawyer for Appellees: Hayden C. Covington

Justices for the Court: Hugo Lafayette Black, William O. Douglas, Robert H. Jackson (writing for the Court), Frank Murphy, Wiley Blount Rutledge, Harlan Fiske Stone

Justices Dissenting: Felix Frankfurter, Stanley Forman Reed, Owen Josephus Roberts

Date of Decision: June 14, 1943

Decision: The law was unconstitutional because it violated the freedom of speech.

Significance: After Barnette, the right to freedom of speech prevents the government from forcing people to say things they do not believe.

Page 175

"I pledge allegiance to the flag… "

Jehovah's Witnesses is a form of Christianity. Its members believe that obeying God is more important than obeying man's laws. One of the Bible's commands is that people should not worship anything except God. For this reason, Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to salute the American flag. They believe it is a form of worship that God forbids.

In Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940), Jehovah's Witnesses in Minersville, Pennsylvania, challenged a state law requiring their children to salute the American flag in school. They said it violated the freedom of religion, which is protected by the First Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court disagreed. It decided that schools can encourage national unity and respect for the government by requiring school children to say "The Pledge of Allegiance" each morning.

THE FLAG SALUTE

Can schoolchildren be compelled to state the Pledge of Allegiance or salute the U.S. flag? Those who say yes believe that children do not have a constitutional right to refuse to do so. Advocates say that loyalty to the nation and the government is important and that saluting the flag is one way to teach children to have loyalty for the country.

But those opposed to enforced flag salutes say that children should not have to make a statement of loyalty if they do not wish. To make them do so, in turn, makes the action worthless. They also believe that children who are compelled to say the Pledge of Allegiance or salute the flag may...