1. West Virginia Board of Ed v. Barnette
March-June, 1943
Created By Chelsea S.

2. background
The West Virginia Board of Education required all students enrolled in public school to salute the flag (est. 1942)
Refusal to do so was punishable by death
Just kidding, more like detention
Jehovah’s Witnesses forbid pledging oneself to a ‘graven image’ and consider the flag such
Walter Barnette, a Jehovah’s Witness sued the school board

3. Does requiring school children to salute the flag violate their first amendment rights?
The issue

4. precedent
In Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940) the court held (8-1) that the Minersville School District was justified in the expulsion of two students who refused to salute the flag on religious grounds (The children were also Jehovah’s Witnesses)
The case focused on an individual’s right to freedom of religion protected by the First Amendment
The decision argued that ““National unity is the basis of national security,” [and] that the authorities have “the right to select appropriate means for its attainment…””
The decision hence reaches the conclusion that compulsory measures toward ‘national unity’ are constitutional’

5. The case
Walter Barnette sued in U.S. district court and won an injunction against enforcement of the rule
The West Virginia Board of Ed. appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court
The Court overturned the Gobitis ruling in a 6-3 decision
The majority opinion cited an individual’s right to religious freedom and right to free speech protected by the first amendment as well as the right to equal protection of the laws as guaranteed by the 14th
The Court ruled that “compulsory unification of opinion” was contradictory to First Amendment values

6. A 6-3 vote Chief Justice Stone Rutledge Jackson Reed Frankfurter
Black
Douglas
Roberts
Chief Justice Stone
Rutledge
Jackson
Murphy
Reed
Frankfurter
Really? Frankfurter?

7. implications
The opinion specified that the freedom of speech included the right not to be forced to speak against one’s will and represented one of the most sweeping statements about the extent of the free exercise clause
The Court went on to approve religious exemption in other cases as well, such as Sherbert v. Verner (allowed a Seventh-Day Adventist to receive unemployment despite not working on Saturdays) and Wisconsin v. Yoder (allowed Amish to withdraw their children from school after the 8th grade)