ABSTRACT
Only once in our history was an effort made to compel persons to make public expression of loyalty, under threat of criminal penalties for an obstinate refusal to comply. The event involved a religious sect which found compliance with the law to be inconsistent with their religious convictions; but the principles involved transcended religious freedom and touched the very heart of all the First Amendment freedoms. A document filed with the Department of Justice by the American Civil Liberties Union in the fall of 1940 showed that in a period of about six months 1,488 persons were victims of mob violence in 335 communities in 44 states. In 1907 Kansas adopted the first flag salute act; in other states flag salute was required by school board regulation. The Court had no authority to bar public school officials "from determining the appropriateness of various means to evoke that unifying sentiment without which there can ultimately be no liberties, civil or religious".
