ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with an inquiry into the definition, nature, and scope of protected expression under the First Amendment. It determines that the First Amendment protects an individual against compulsion to honor the American flag and from being forced to be associated with a statement of ideology. Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote of the absurdity of interpreting the First Amendment with a dictionary only and without regard for the history of freedom of speech in America. The Court affirmed the district court's decision, ruling that the compulsory flag salute policy violated the First Amendment's guarantees of freedom of belief, conscience, and expression. The Court had recognized in Stromberg that speech need not be oral to be afforded constitutional protection. In that case, the Court voided state law that punished the display of a red flag as a symbol of opposition to organized government.
