List of United States Supreme Court cases involving the First Amendment

Last updated

This is a list of cases that appeared before the Supreme Court of the United States involving the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Contents

The establishment of religion

Blue laws

Government-sponsored religious displays

Legislative prayer

Internal religious affairs (also involving the Free Exercise Clause)

Ministerial exception

Private religious speech

Religion in public schools

Religious institution functioning as a government agency

Standing to sue

Statutory religious exemptions

Unequal government treatment of different religious groups

Abortion and contraception

Other

The free exercise of religion

Exclusion of religion from public benefits

Polygamy

Free exercise and eminent domain

Free exercise and free speech

Free exercise and public education

Free exercise and public property

Internal religious affairs (also involving the Establishment Clause)

Ministerial exception

Religion and the right to work

Religious tests for public service or benefits

Ritual sacrifice of animals

Solicitation by religious groups

Statutory religious exemptions

Religious Freedom Restoration Act

Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act

Other

Freedom of speech

Campaign finance

Commercial speech

Compelled speech

Compelled commercial speech

Compelled subsidy for speech of others

Cases that consider the First Amendment implications of payments mandated by the state going to use in part for speech by third parties

Loyalty oaths and affirmations

Content-based

Content-neutral

Sedition and imminent danger

False speech

Fighting words and the heckler's veto

Freedom of assembly and public forums

Time, place and manner

Cases concerning restrictions on the time, place, and manner of speech

Government speech

Cases pertaining to whether or not extending protections to speech constitutes government endorsement of speech.

Government-subsidized speech

Cases about restrictions on speech by third parties funded by the government.

Obscenity

Generally

Cases concerned with the definition of obscenity and whether a particular work or type of material is obscene.

As criminal offense

Appeals of criminal convictions for possessing, selling or distributing obscenity that focused on that issue

Search, seizure and forfeiture

Cases involving the search and seizure of allegedly obscene material

Civil and administrative regulation

Cases dealing with civil and administrative regulatory procedures aimed at suppressing or restricting obscenity, such as film-licensing boards or zoning regulations.

Internet

Cases involving laws meant to restrict obscenity online

Public employees

Political activity and Hatch Act of 1939

Public school students

Speech by students in public secondary schools

Retaliation by public officials

Cases in which it has been alleged governmental officials retaliated for protected speech made by private citizens who are not employed by said officials.

Symbolic speech

Freedom of the press

Broadcast media

Defamation

Prior restraints and censorship

Privacy

Search and seizure

Taxation and privileges

Freedom of assembly

Freedom of association

Freedom to petition

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Amendment to the United States Constitution</span> 1791 amendment limiting government restriction of civil rights

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws respecting an establishment of religion; prohibiting the free exercise of religion; or abridging the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, the freedom of assembly, or the right to petition the government for redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights. In the original draft of the Bill of Rights, what is now the First Amendment occupied third place. The first two articles were not ratified by the states, so the article on disestablishment and free speech ended up being first.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MCI Communications</span> Former telecommunications and networking company

MCI Communications Corporation was a telecommunications company headquartered in Washington, D.C. that was at one point the second-largest long-distance provider in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom of speech in the United States</span>

In the United States, freedom of speech and expression is strongly protected from government restrictions by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, many state constitutions, and state and federal laws. Freedom of speech, also called free speech, means the free and public expression of opinions without censorship, interference and restraint by the government The term "freedom of speech" embedded in the First Amendment encompasses the decision what to say as well as what not to say. The Supreme Court of the United States has recognized several categories of speech that are given lesser or no protection by the First Amendment and has recognized that governments may enact reasonable time, place, or manner restrictions on speech. The First Amendment's constitutional right of free speech, which is applicable to state and local governments under the incorporation doctrine, prevents only government restrictions on speech, not restrictions imposed by private individuals or businesses unless they are acting on behalf of the government. The right of free speech can, however, be lawfully restricted by time, place and manner in limited circumstances. Some laws may restrict the ability of private businesses and individuals from restricting the speech of others, such as employment laws that restrict employers' ability to prevent employees from disclosing their salary to coworkers or attempting to organize a labor union.

First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, 435 U.S. 765 (1978), is a U.S. constitutional law case which defined the free speech right of corporations for the first time. The United States Supreme Court held that corporations have a First Amendment right to make contributions to ballot initiative campaigns. The ruling came in response to a Massachusetts law that prohibited corporate donations in ballot initiatives unless the corporation's interests were directly involved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund</span> Organization in New York, United States

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. is an American civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City.

The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) is the oldest and largest national anti-abortion organization in the United States with affiliates in all 50 states and more than 3,000 local chapters nationwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Jay Stern</span> American judge (born 1936)

Herbert Jay Stern is a trial lawyer, with a national practice in civil and criminal litigation, as well as mediation and arbitration. Earlier in his career, Stern served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and as the United States Judge for Berlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilfred Feinberg</span> American judge

Wilfred Feinberg was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and previously was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebecca Beach Smith</span> American judge (born 1949)

Rebecca Beach Smith is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and a civic leader. Among her many decisions is the 2011 ruling that decided the title to and restrictions upon artifacts salvaged from the wreck of the RMS Titanic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Corn-Revere</span> American lawyer

Robert L. "Bob" Corn-Revere is an American First Amendment lawyer. Corn-Revere is the Chief Counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and was formerly a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP in Washington, D.C. He is regularly listed as a leading First Amendment and media law practitioner by The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White), SuperLawyers Washington, D.C., and by Chambers USA. Best Lawyers in America named him as Washington, D.C.’s 2017 “Lawyer of the Year” in the areas of First Amendment Law and Litigation – First Amendment. He was again named as Best Lawyers’ “Lawyer of the Year” for First Amendment Law for 2019 and 2021, and in Media Law for 2022. In 2022 he was listed in Washingtonian Magazine's Top Lawyers Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States free speech exceptions</span> Categories of free speech not protected by the First Amendment

In the United States, some categories of speech are not protected by the First Amendment. According to the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Constitution protects free speech while allowing limitations on certain categories of speech.

Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck, No. 17-1702, 587 U.S. ___ (2019), was a United States Supreme Court case related to limitations on First Amendment-based free speech placed by private operators. The Court held that a public access station was not considered a state actor for purposes of evaluating free speech issues in a 5–4 ruling split along ideological lines. Prior to the Court's decision, analysts believed that the case had the potential to determine whether limitations on free speech on social media violate First Amendment rights. However, the Court's narrow holding avoided that issue.

References

  1. "Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue". Oyez. Retrieved August 18, 2024.

Further reading