MINERSVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT v. GOBITIS
Case Basics
Petitioner
Respondent
Minersville School District
Gobitis
Decided By
Hughes Court (1940-1941)
Opinion
310 U.S. 586 (1940)
Argued
Thursday, April 25, 1940
Decided
Monday, June 3, 1940
Facts of the Case
Lillian and William Gobitis were expelled from the public schools of Minersville, Pennsylvania, for refusing
to salute the flag as part of a daily school exercise. The Gobitis children were Jehovah's Witnesses; they
believed that such a gesture of respect for the flag was forbidden by Biblical commands.
Question
Did the mandatory flag salute infringe upon liberties protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments?
Conclusion
No. In an 8-to-1 decision, the Court declined to make itself "the school board for the country" and upheld
the mandatory flag salute. The Court held that the state's interest in "national cohesion" was "inferior to
none in the hierarchy of legal values" and that national unity was "the basis of national security." The flag,
the Court found, was an important symbol of national unity and could be a part of legislative initiatives
designed "to promote in the minds of children who attend the common schools an attachment to the
institutions of their country."
WEST VIRGINIA STATE BOARD OF ED. v. BARNETTE
Case Basics
Petitioner
Respondent
West Virginia State Board of Ed.
Barnette
Decided By
Stone Court (1943-1945)
Opinion
319 U.S. 624 (1943)
Argued
Thursday, March 11, 1943
Decided
Monday, June 14, 1943
Facts of the Case
The West Virginia Board of Education required that the flag salute be part of the program of activities in
all public schools. All teachers and pupils were required to honor the Flag; refusal to salute was treated
as "insubordination" and was punishable by expulsion and charges of delinquency.
Question
Did the compulsory flag-salute for public schoolchildren violate the First Amendment?
Conclusion
Decision: 6 votes for Barnette, 3 vote(s) against
Legal provision: US Const. Amend 1; W. Va. Code § 1734
In a 6-to-3 decision, the Court overruled its decision in Minersville School District v. Gobitis and held that
compelling public schoolchildren to salute the flag was unconstitutional. The Court found that such a
salute was a form of utterance and was a means of communicating ideas. "Compulsory unification of
opinion," the Court held, was doomed to failure and was antithetical to First Amendment values. Writing
for the majority, Justice Jackson argued that "[i]f there is any fixed star in our constitutional
constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics,
nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their
faith therein."