Legal Concepts

First Amendment

This is the freedom of an individual or a community to speak or express opinions and ideas without fear.

Landmark Cases Involving First Amendment:

A classroom of black and white students with their heads bowed in prayer.

Engel v. Vitale

School-Sponsored Prayer is Unconstitutional
A newspaper from Saint Louis on August 21, 1983. The headline reads "suit over Hazelwood school paper censorship."

Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier

Schools Can Limit the Free Speech Rights of Students
A crowd of men in suits gathered in front of a storefront to protest the war draft.

Schenck v. United States

Free Speech is Not Absolute in Times of War
An American flag burning in the street in the middle of a crowd.

Texas v. Johnson

Burning the American Flag is Protected Symbolic Speech
Two Des Moines students holding armbands that symbolized their protest against the Vietnam war. The armbands are black with a white peace sign in the center.

Tinker v. Des Moines

Students Have Free Speech Rights in Public Schools
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