8.T5.6c

Interpretations in cases where individual rights and perceived community or national interests were in conflict, for example, The United States Flag and the Pledge of Allegiance Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940) The Court held, 8-1, that the state’s interest in national unity allowed school boards to require students to salute the flag. West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) Court held, 6-3, that students are protected from having to salute the flag or recite the Pledge of Allegiance through the free exercise clause of the First Amendment. Texas v. Johnson (1989) The Court held, 5-4, that an individual has a right to burn the flag under the First Amendment free expression clause. School Prayer Engel v. Vitale (1962) The Court held, 6-2, that requiring school prayer in public schools was a violation of the First Amendment establishment clause. National Security Korematsu v. United States (1944) The Court held, 6-3, that a government order during World War II sending Japanese-Americans to internment camps, rather than allowing them to remain in their homes, was constitutional. Clapper v. Amnesty International (2012) The Court, 5-4, dismissed a challenge to the government’s power to conduct surveillance on international phone calls and emails under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts. Gun Control District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) The Court, 5-4, upheld the right of individuals to own guns under the Second Amendment and found the District of Columbia’s ban on owning handguns to be unconstitutional.