List of United States Supreme Court cases involving the First Amendment

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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

Blue laws

Government aid to church-related schools

Government-sponsored religious displays

Legislative prayer

Internal religious affairs (also involving the Free Exercise Clause)

Ministerial exception

Private religious speech

Religion in public schools

Religious institution functioning as a government agency

Standing to sue

Statutory religious exemptions

Unequal government treatment of different religious groups

Abortion and contraception

Other

The free exercise of religion

Exclusion of religion from public benefits

Polygamy

Free exercise and eminent domain

Free exercise and free speech

Free exercise and public education

Free exercise and public property

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

Internal religious affairs (also involving the Establishment Clause)

Ministerial exception

Religion and the right to work

Religious tests for public service or benefits

Ritual sacrifice of animals

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

Solicitation by religious groups

Statutory religious exemptions

Religious Freedom Restoration Act

Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act

Other

Freedom of speech

Campaign finance

Commercial speech

Compelled speech

Compelled commercial speech

Compelled subsidy for speech of others

Cases that consider the First Amendment implications of payments mandated by the state going to use in part for speech by third parties

Loyalty oaths and affirmations

Content-based

Content-neutral

Sedition and imminent danger

False speech

Fighting words and the heckler's veto

Freedom of assembly and public forums

Time, place and manner

Cases concerning restrictions on the

time, place, and manner
of speech

Government speech

Cases pertaining to whether or not extending protections to speech constitutes government endorsement of speech.

Government-subsidized speech

Cases about restrictions on speech by third parties funded by the government.

Obscenity

Generally

Cases concerned with the definition of obscenity and whether a particular work or type of material is obscene.

As criminal offense

Appeals of criminal convictions for possessing, selling or distributing obscenity that focused on that issue

Search, seizure and forfeiture

Cases involving the search and seizure of allegedly obscene material

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.

Internet

Cases involving laws meant to restrict obscenity online

Public employees

Political activity and
Hatch Act of 1939

Public school students

Speech by students in public secondary schools

Retaliation by public officials

Cases in which it has been alleged governmental officials retaliated for protected speech made by private citizens who are not employed by said officials.

Symbolic speech

Freedom of the press

Broadcast media

Defamation

Prior restraints and censorship

Privacy

Search and seizure

Taxation and privileges

Freedom of assembly

Freedom of association

Freedom to petition

References

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. .