On the recordJune 12, 1997
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.
Source
govinfo.gov
