List of United States Supreme Court cases involving the First Amendment

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

Standing to sue

• Flast v. Cohen (1968)
• Valley Forges and people Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State (1982

Tax exemption to religious institutions

• Walz v. Tax Commission of the City of New York (1970)
• Bob Jones University v. United States (1983)
• Texas Monthly, Inc. v. Bullock (1989)

Legislative chaplains

• Marsh v. Chambers (1984)
• Town of Greece v. Galloway (2014)

Government-sponsored religious displays

• Lynch v. Donnelly (1984)
• Board of Trustees of Scarsdale v. McCreary (1985)
• County of Allegheny v. ACLU Greater Pittsburgh Chapter (1989)
• McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky (2005)
• Van Orden v. Perry (2005)

Religion in public education

• McCollum v. Board of Education (1948)
• Zorach v. Clauson (1952)
• Engel v. Vitale (1962)
• Abington School District v. Schempp (1963)
• Epperson v. Arkansas (1968)
• Stone v. Graham (1980)
• Rosenberger v. University of Virginia (1995)
• Agostini v. Felton (1997)
• Mitchell v. Helms (2000)

Prayer in public schools

• Wallace v. Jaffree (1985)
• Lee v. Weisman (1992)
• Santa Fe Independent School Dist. v. Doe (2000)
• Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow (2004)

Teaching of creationism in public schools

• Edwards v. Aguillard (1987)

Governmental aid to church-related schools

• Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925)
• Cochran v. Louisiana State Board of Education (1930)
• Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
• Abington School District v. Schempp (1963)
• Board of Education v. Allen (1968)
• Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
• Tilton v. Richardson (1971)
• Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty v. Nyquist (1973)
• Meek v. Pittenger (1975)
• Roemer v. Board of Public Works of Maryland (1976)
• Wolman v. Walter (1977)
• Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty v. Regan (1980)
• Mueller v. Allen (1983)
• Aguilar v. Felton (1985)
• Grand Rapids School District v. Ball (1985)
• Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District (1993)
• Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002)
• Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn (2011)

Blue laws

• McGowan v. Maryland (1961)
• Braunfeld v. Brown (1961)
• Gallagher v. Crown Kosher Super Market of Mass., Inc. (1961)
• Thorton v. Caldor (1965)

Religious institution functioning as a government agency

• Larkin v. Grendel’s Den (1982)
• Bowen v. Kendrick (1988)
• Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School v. Grumet (1994)

Unequal government treatment of religious groups

• Larson v. Valente (1982)

The free exercise of religion

Polygamy

• Reynolds v. United States (1878)
• Davis v. Beason (1890)

Religion and the right to work

• Sherbert v. Verner (1963)
• Trans World Airlines v. Hardison (1977)
• Ohio Civil Rights Commission v. Dayton Christian Schools (1986)
• Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the 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)

Free exercise and free speech

• R. A. V. v. City of St. Paul (1992)
• Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal (2006)

Free exercise and public education

• Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)
• Widmar v. Vincent (1981)
• Board of Education of the Westside Community Schools v. Mergens (1990)
• Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District (1993)
• Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia (1995)

Free Exercise and public property

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

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)
• Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness (1981)

Free exercise and eminent domain

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

Ritual sacrifice of animals

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

Government intervention in church controversies

• United States v. Ballard (1944)
• Kedroff v. Saint Nicholas Cathedral (1952)
• Presbyterian Church v. Hull Church (1969)
• Jones v. Wolf (1979)
• Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC (2012)

Free speech

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)
• United States v. Ohio (2011)

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)
• Edwards v. South Carolina (1963)
• Cox v. Louisiana (1965)
• Brown v. Louisiana (1966)
• Carroll v. Princess Anne (1966)
• Adderley v. Florida (1966)
• Coates v. Cincinnati (1971)
• Organization for a Better Austin v. Keefe (1971)
• Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad (1975)
• Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins (1980)

Time, place and manner

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

• Chicago Police Dept. v. Mosley (1972)
• Grayned v. City of Rockford (1972)
• Ward v. Rock Against Racism (1989)
• Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York (1997)
• Hill v. Colorado (2000)
• McCullen v. Coakley (2014)

Symbolic speech

• United States v. O'Brien (1968)
• Cohen v. California (1972)
• Texas v. Johnson (1989)
• United States v. Eichman (1990)
• Virginia v. Black (2003)

Compelled speech

• Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940)
• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)
• Wooley v. Maynard (1977)
• Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth (2000)
• Davenport v. Washington Education Association (2007)
• Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society (2013)

Loyalty oaths and affirmations

• American Communications Association v. Douds (1950)
• Garner v. Board of Public Works, (1951)
• Adler v. Board of Ed. of City of New York, (1952)
• Wieman v. Updegraff, (1952)
• Speiser v. Randall, (1958)
• Cramp v. Board of Public Instruction, (1961)
• Keyishian v. Board of Regents, (1965)
• Communist Party of Indiana v. Whitcomb, (1974)

School speech

Speech by students in public secondary schools (for cases involving teachers' free-speech rights, see Public employees, below).

• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)
• Board of Education v. Pico (1982)
• Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser (1986)
• Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)
• Poling v. Murphy(1989)
• Guiles v. Marineau (2006)
• Morse v. Frederick (2007)

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)
• Butler v. Michigan (1957)
• Smith v. California, (1959)
• Stanley v. Georgia (1969)
• Ginzburg v. United States, (1966)
• Mishkin v. New York, (1966)
• Redrup v. New York (1967)
• Ginsberg v. New York (1968)
• Blount v. Rizzi (1971)
• United States v. Reidel (1971)
• Heller v. New York (1973)
• United States v. Orito (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)
• Lee Art Theatre, Inc. v. Virginia (1968)
• United States v. Thirty-seven Photographs (1971)
• United States v. 12 200-ft. Reels of Film (1973)
• Roaden v. Kentucky (1973)
• Lo-Ji Sales, Inc., v. New York (1979)
• Maryland v. Macon (1985)
• New York v. P.J. Video, Inc. (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.

• Mutual Film Corp. v. Industrial Commission of Ohio (1915)
• Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson (1952)
• Kingsley Books, Inc. v. Brown (1957)
• Kingsley Int'l Pictures Corp. v. Regents of Univ. of N. Y. (1959)
• Times Film Corp. v. Chicago (1961)
• Bantam Books v. Sullivan (1963)
• Freedman v. Maryland (1965)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton (1973)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres (1976)
• Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc. (1986)
• United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group (2000)

Internet

Cases involving laws meant to restrict obscenity online

• Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union (1997)
• Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union (2002)
• Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (2002)

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)

Speech by public employees

• Pickering v. Board of Education (1968)
• Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth (1972)
• Perry v. Sindermann (1972)
• Madison School District v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (1976)
• Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle (1977)
• Givhan v. Western Line Consolidated School District (1979)
• Snepp v. United States (1980)
• Connick v. Myers (1983)
• Rankin v. McPherson (1987)
• Waters v. Churchill (1994)
• United States v. National Treasury Employees Union (1995)
• 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)

Political activity and Hatch Act

• 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)
• Branti v. Finkel (1979)

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)
• Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission (1980)
• Consol. Edison Co. v. Public Serv. Comm'n (1980)
• Hoffman Estates v. The Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc. (1982)
• Bolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp. (1983)
• 44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island (1996)

Freedom of the press

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)
• Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo (1974)
• Nebraska Press Assn. v. Stuart (1976)
• Houchins v. KQED, Inc. (1978)
• Tory v. Cochran (2005)

Privacy

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

Taxation and privileges

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

Defamation

• Beauharnais v. Illinois (1952)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)
• Garrison v. Louisiana (1964)
• Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts (1967)
• 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)
• Hoeper v. Air Wisconsin (2014)

Broadcast media

• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC (1968)
• FCC v. Pacifica Foundation (1989)
• Turner Broadcasting v. FCC (1995)

Freedom of association

• Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. McGrath (1951)
• Watkins v. United States (1957)
• Sweezy v. New Hampshire (1957)
• NAACP v. Alabama (1958)
• Shelton v. Tucker (1960)
• Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee (1963)
• In re Primus (1978)
• Roberts v. United States Jaycees (1984)
• Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston (1995)
• Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2000)

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.