Supreme Court

West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, Dissenting Opinion by Felix Frankfurter

January 21, 2019 Sacred Liberty

1943 In 1942, the state board of education issued a rule requiring kids to salute the American flag—“in the spirit of Americanism”—and declared that refusal “would be regarded as an Act of insubordination.” Ten-year-old Marie and eight-year-old Gathie Barnett, the children of a pipe fitting helper at a local DuPont factory, refused to salute during a ceremony at Slip Hill Grade School. They were expelled. The Witnesses appealed all the way to the highest court. In his brief to the…

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Cantwell v. Connecticut Majority Opinion

January 21, 2019 Sacred Liberty

US Supreme Court Justice 1940 This was the case through which the U.S. Supreme Court “incorporated” the “free exercise” clause of the First Amendment so that state and local governments could no longer infringe on the rights outlined in the Constitution. The case arose after Newton Cantwell and his son Jesse went to spread the gospel in a Catholic neighborhood in New Haven, Connecticut. They brought a portable hand-cranked phonograph and played bits of Rutherford’s book Enemies, which includes passages…

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West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette

January 21, 2019 Sacred Liberty

US Supreme Court 1943 The Jehovah’s Witnesseses had been looking for a test case to demand more expansive religious liberty. They found it near Charleston, West Virginia. In 1942, the state board of education had issued a rule requiring kids to salute the American flag—“in the spirit of Americanism”—and declared that refusal “would be regarded as an Act of insubordination.” Ten-year-old Marie and eight-year-old Gathie Barnett, the children of a pipe fitting helper at a local DuPont factory, refused to…

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Reynolds v. United States

January 21, 2019 Sacred Liberty

United States Supreme Court 1879 The Mormons argued that since polygamy was not only a belief but also a religious duty, it was protected by the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause. On January 6, 1879, the Court ruled, unanimously, against the Mormon Church. Reynolds v. United States upheld all of the anti-Mormon legislation. The opinion of Chief Justice Morrison Waite stated: […] Laws are made for the government of actions, and while they cannot interfere with mere religious belief and opinions,…

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