Case Categories: Expressive Conduct / Symbolic Speech

• Anderson v. City of Hermosa Beach (9th Circuit) (2010)

  Anderson v. City of Hermosa Beach (9th Cir. 2010) struck down a city’s ban on tattoo parlors. The court ruled that tattooing was a form of free speech under...

• Buehrle v. City of Key West (11th Cir.) (2015)

  Buehrle v. City of Key West (11th Cir. 2015) said a city couldn't ban new tattoo parlors in its historic district without running afoul of the First Amendment...

• Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence (1984)

  Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence (1984) said camping ban near the White House was a reasonable time, place and manner restriction on First Amendment...

• Spence v. Washington (1974)

  In 1974, the Supreme Court held that the First Amendment protects the right to desecrate the American flag as a form of symbolic protest. In Spence v....

• Stromberg v. California (1931)

  The Supreme Court in 1931 overturned the conviction of a California woman for flying the red flag of the Soviet Union. In Stromberg v. California, the Court...

• Texas v. Johnson (1989)

  Texas v. Johnson (1989) struck down on First Amendment grounds a flag desecration law. The has decision served as the crux of the debate about burning of the U....

• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)

  Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) established that public school students have First Amendment rights. It is the seminal...

• United States v. O'Brien (1968)

  The Supreme Court in 1968 upheld a law that prohibited the mutilation of draft cards against a challenge by an anti-war protester who said it violated his First...

• Village of Skokie v. National Socialist Party of America (Ill) (1978)

  The decision in Village of Skokie v. National Socialist Party of America, 373 N. E. 2d 21 (Ill. 1978) would set the foundation for later hate speech cases...

• Virginia v. Black (2003)

  Virginia v. Black (2003) upheld a statute making it illegal to burn a cross in public to intimidate others. Cross burning was a true threat unprotected by the...