Facts
- West Virginia required public schools to include a daily flag-salute and Pledge of Allegiance as part of the school program.
- The regulation required all teachers and pupils to participate; refusal was classified as “insubordination.”
- The mandated ceremony included a salute and recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.
- Students who refused were expelled, deemed unlawfully absent, and exposed to delinquency proceedings.
- Parents of expelled children faced potential prosecution, fines, and jail time for their children’s nonattendance.
- Jehovah’s Witness students (including the Barnette children) refused to salute and recite the pledge on religious grounds, viewing such acts as forbidden worship of symbols.
- The students were expelled and sought to prevent enforcement of the compulsory requirement.
Issues
- Whether the First and Fourteenth Amendments allow a state to compel public school students to salute the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance on pain of expulsion and related penalties.
- Whether forcing students to participate in a patriotic pledge constitutes unconstitutional compelled speech.
Decision
- The Supreme Court affirmed an injunction against enforcement of the compulsory flag-salute regulation.
- The Court held, 6–3, that the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause (as applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment) prohibits public schools from forcing students to salute the flag and recite the pledge.
- The Court overruled Minersville School District v. Gobitis, which had upheld a similar requirement.
- The Court accepted national unity as a legitimate governmental interest but rejected compelled affirmation as a permissible means.
Legal Principles
- Government may not compel individuals to speak or act to affirm beliefs they do not hold, including compelled recitation of political or patriotic affirmations.
- No public official may prescribe an orthodoxy in matters of politics, nationalism, religion, or opinion, or force citizens to confess adherence by word or act.
- Fundamental expressive freedoms are withdrawn from ordinary majoritarian control; their protection does not depend on elections or legislative preference.
- Even where a policy is generally applicable and motivated by civic objectives, compelled expression in schools triggers constitutional limits.
Conclusion
The Court held that a public school may not require students to salute the flag or recite the Pledge of Allegiance, because compelled patriotic affirmation violates the First Amendment’s protection against compelled speech as applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.