Cliff Stearns: “The leading Supreme Court case in this area was decided in 1968 in United States versus O'Brien. The Court upheld…”

“The leading Supreme Court case in this area was decided in 1968 in United States versus O'Brien. The Court upheld against a first amendment challenge the conviction of someone who burned his draft card. The Court sustained his conviction on the basis that there was indeed a constitutional difference between expressive conduct, such as burning one's draft card, maybe someone burning the flag, and pure speech in that it would be easier to uphold a statute that would regulate the former; that is, expressive conduct. In O'Brien, the Supreme Court held: We cannot accept the view that an apparently limitless variety of conduct can be labeled speech whenever the person engaging in the conduct intends thereby to express an idea.”