List of United States Supreme Court cases involving the First Amendment

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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.

The establishment of religion[]

Blue laws[]

  • McGowan v. Maryland (1961)
  • Braunfeld v. Brown (1961)
  • Gallagher v. Crown Kosher Super Market of Mass., Inc. (1961)
  • Thornton v. Caldor (1985)

Government aid to church-related schools[]

Government-sponsored religious displays[]

Legislative prayer[]

  • Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783 (1984)
  • Town of Greece v. Galloway, 572 U.S. 565 (2014)

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[]

  • Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association (1988)
  • City of Boerne v. Flores (1997)

Free exercise and free speech[]

  • R. A. V. v. City of St. Paul (1992)
  • Good News Club v. Milford Central School (2001)
  • Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal (2006)
  • Fulton v. City of Philadelphia (2021)

Free exercise and public education[]

Free exercise and public property[]

  • Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board v. Pinette (1995)

Internal religious affairs (also involving the Establishment Clause)[]

Ministerial exception[]

Religion and the right to work[]

  • Sherbert v. Verner (1963)
  • (1977)
  • (1986)
  • Corporation of Presiding Bishop of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints v. Amos (1987)
  • Employment Division v. Smith (1990)

Religious tests for public service or benefits[]

  • Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942)
  • Torcaso v. Watkins (1961)
  • McDaniel v. Paty (1978)
  • Thomas v. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division (1981)
  • Goldman v. Weinberger (1986)
  • Bowen v. Roy (1986)

Ritual sacrifice of animals[]

  • Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah (1993)

Solicitation by religious groups[]

  • Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)
  • Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940)
  • Cox v. New Hampshire (1941)
  • Jones v. City of Opelika (I) (1942)
  • Marsh v. Alabama (1942)
  • Murdock v. Pennsylvania (1943)
  • Jones v. City of Opelika (II) (1943)
  • West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)
  • Prince v. Massachusetts (1944)
  • (1981)
  • Watchtower Society v. Village of Stratton (2002)

Statutory religious exemptions[]

Religious Freedom Restoration Act[]

Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act[]

Other[]

  • Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo (2020)
  • Tandon v. Newsom (2021)

Freedom of speech[]

Campaign finance[]

Commercial speech[]

  • Valentine v. Chrestensen (1942)
  • Rowan v. U.S. Post Office Dept. (1970)
  • Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations (1973)
  • Lehman v. Shaker Heights (1974)
  • Bigelow v. Commonwealth of Virginia (1974)
  • Virginia State Pharmacy Board v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (1976)
  • Bates v. State Bar of Arizona (1977)
  • Linmark Associates, Inc. v. Willingboro (1977)
  • Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Assn. (1978)
  • (1979)
  • Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission (1980)
  • Consol. Edison Co. v. Public Serv. Comm'n (1980)
  • Metromedia, Inc. v. San Diego (1981)
  • Hoffman Estates v. The Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc. (1982)
  • (1983)
  • (1993)
  • 44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island (1996)
  • Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman (2017)
  • Iancu v. Brunetti (2019)

Compelled speech[]

  • Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940)
  • West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)
  • Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo (1974)
  • Wooley v. Maynard (1977)
  • Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society (2013)
  • Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society (2020)

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

  • Abood v. Detroit Board of Education (1977)
  • Communications Workers of America v. Beck (1978)
  • (1986)
  • Keller v. State Bar of California (1990)
  • Lehnert v. Ferris Faculty Ass'n (1991)
  • (1997)
  • Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth (2000)
  • (2001)
  • Johanns v. Livestock Marketing Association (2005)
  • Davenport v. Washington Education Association (2007)
  • Locke v. Karass (2008)
  • Knox v. Service Employees International Union, Local 1000 (2012)
  • Harris v. Quinn (2014)
  • Friedrichs v. California Teachers Ass'n (2016)
  • Janus v. AFSCME (2018)

Loyalty oaths and affirmations[]

  • American Communications Association v. Douds (1950)
  • Garner v. Board of Public Works (1951)
  • (1952)
  • Wieman v. Updegraff (1952)
  • Speiser v. Randall (1958)
  • (1961)
  • Keyishian v. Board of Regents (1965)
  • Communist Party of Indiana v. Whitcomb (1974)

Content-based[]

  • R. A. V. v. City of St. Paul (1992)
  • Reed v. Town of Gilbert (2015)
  • City of Austin, Texas v. Reagan National Advertising of Texas, Inc. (2022)

Content-neutral[]

  • City of Ladue v. Gilleo (1994)

Sedition and imminent danger[]

  • Debs v. United States (1919)
  • Schenck v. United States (1919)
  • Abrams v. United States (1919)
  • Gitlow v. New York (1925)
  • Whitney v. California (1927)
  • Dennis v. United States (1951)
  • Communist Party v. Subversive Activities Control Board (1955)
  • Yates v. United States (1957)
  • Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)

False speech[]

  • United States v. Alvarez (2012)
  • Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus (2014)

Fighting words and the heckler's veto[]

  • Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)
  • Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942)
  • Terminiello v. Chicago (1949)
  • Feiner v. New York (1951)
  • National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie (1977)
  • R. A. V. v. City of St. Paul (1992)
  • Snyder v. Phelps (2011)

Freedom of assembly and public forums[]

  • Hague v. CIO (1939)
  • Schneider v. New Jersey (1939)
  • Martin v. Struthers (1943)
  • NAACP v. Alabama (1958)
  • Bates v. City of Little Rock (1960)
  • Edwards v. South Carolina (1963)
  • Cox v. Louisiana (1965)
  • Brown v. Louisiana (1966)
  • Adderley v. Florida (1966)
  • Carroll v. Town of Princess Anne (1968)
  • Coates v. Cincinnati (1971)
  • Organization for a Better Austin v. Keefe (1971)
  • (1975)
  • Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins (1980)
  • (1981)
  • Christian Legal Society v. Martinez (2010)
  • Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck (2019)
  • Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta (2021)

Time, place and manner[]

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

Government-funded speech[]

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

  • Rust v. Sullivan (1991)
  • Legal Services Corp. v. Velazquez (2001)

Obscenity[]

Generally[]

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

  • Roth v. United States (1957)
  • Alberts v. California, (1957)
  • One, Inc. v. Olesen, (1958)
  • MANual Enterprises v. Day, (1962)
  • Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964)
  • Memoirs v. Massachusetts, (1966)
  • Kois v. Wisconsin (1972)
  • Miller v. California (1973)
  • Jenkins v. Georgia (1974)
  • New York v. Ferber (1982)
  • Osborne v. Ohio (1990)
  • United States v. Stevens (2010)

As criminal offense[]

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

  • Rosen v. United States (1896)
  • (1957)
  • Smith v. California, (1959)
  • Ginzburg v. United States, (1966)
  • , (1966)
  • Redrup v. New York (1967)
  • Ginsberg v. New York (1968)
  • Stanley v. Georgia (1969)
  • (1971)
  • United States v. Reidel (1971)
  • Heller v. New York (1973)
  • (1973)
  • Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville (1975)
  • United States v. X-Citement Video (1994)

Search, seizure and forfeiture[]

Cases involving the search and seizure of allegedly obscene material

  • Marcus v. Search Warrant, (1961)
  • Quantity of Books v. Kansas (1964)
  • (1968)
  • United States v. Thirty-seven Photographs (1971)
  • United States v. 12 200-ft. Reels of Film (1973)
  • (1973)
  • (1979)
  • (1985)
  • (1986)

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[]

  • Pickering v. Board of Education (1968)
  • Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth (1972)
  • Perry v. Sindermann (1972)
  • (1976)
  • Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle (1977)
  • Givhan v. Western Line Consolidated School District (1979)
  • (1980)
  • Connick v. Myers (1983)
  • Rankin v. McPherson (1987)
  • Waters v. Churchill (1994)
  • United States v. National Treasury Employees Union (1995)
  • (1996)
  • San Diego v. Roe (2004)
  • Garcetti v. Ceballos (2007)
  • Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri (2011)
  • Lane v. Franks (2014)
  • Heffernan v. City of Paterson (2016)
  • Houston Community College System v. Wilson (2022)
  • Kennedy v. Bremerton School District (pending)

Political activity and Hatch Act of 1939[]

  • Ex parte Curtis (1882)
  • United Public Workers v. Mitchell (1947)
  • United States Civil Service Commission v. National Association of Letter Carriers (1973)
  • Broadrick v. Oklahoma (1973)
  • Elrod v. Burns (1976)
  • (1979)

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[]

  • Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC (1968)
  • (1973)
  • (1984)
  • FCC v. Pacifica Foundation (1989)
  • Turner Broadcasting v. FCC (1995)
  • FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. I (2009)
  • FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. II (2012)

Defamation[]

  • Beauharnais v. Illinois (1952)
  • New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)
  • (1964)
  • Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts (1967)
  • (1968)
  • Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. (1974)
  • Time, Inc. v. Firestone (1976)
  • Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. (1981)
  • Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. (1985)
  • McDonald v. Smith (1985)
  • Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1988)
  • Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. (1990)
  • (2014)

Government speech[]

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

  • Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans (2015)
  • Matal v. Tam (2017)
  • Iancu v. Brunetti (2019)

Prior restraints and censorship[]

  • Near v. Minnesota (1931)
  • Lovell v. City of Griffin (1938)
  • Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)
  • New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)
  • Nebraska Press Assn. v. Stuart (1976)
  • Houchins v. KQED, Inc. (1978)
  • Tory v. Cochran (2005)
  • Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

Privacy[]

  • Time, Inc. v. Hill (1967)
  • Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn (1975)
  • Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia (1980)[1][2]
  • Florida Star v. B. J. F. (1989)
  • (1999)

Taxation and privileges[]

  • Grosjean v. American Press Co. (1936)
  • Branzburg v. Hayes (1972)
  • Minneapolis Star Tribune Company v. Commissioner (1983)

Freedom of assembly[]

Freedom of association[]

Freedom to petition[]

  • United States v. Cruikshank (1876)
  • (1945)
  • Eastern Railroad Presidents Conference v. Noerr Motor Freight, Inc. (1961)
  • NAACP v. Button (1963)
  • Edwards v. South Carolina (1963)
  • United Mine Workers v. Pennington (1965)
  • Cox v. Louisiana (1965)
  • California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited (1972)
  • (1979)
  • McDonald v. Smith (1985)
  • Meyer v. Grant (1988)
  • Buckley v. American Constitutional Law Foundation (1999)
  • (2002)
  • Doe v. Reed (2010)
  • Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri (2011)

Further reading[]

  • The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States. Kermit L. Hall, ed.
  • The Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions. Kermit L. Hall, ed.
  • Alley, Robert S. (1999). The Constitution & Religion: Leading Supreme Court Cases on Church and State. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-703-1.
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