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9 Monthly Bull. Int'l Jurid. Ass'n 1 (1940-1941)

handle is hein.journals/injasmb9 and id is 1 raw text is: INTERNATIONAL JURIDICAL ,.ASSOCIATION MONTHLY BULLETIN Vol. 9, No. 1 JULY, 1940 . asW Price $2 a year The Compulsory Flag Salute in the Supreme Court In Minersville School District v. Gobitis,' decided June 3, 1940, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the compulsory flag salute in the public schools, over a re- ligious objection founded on the Biblical Commandment against idolatry. The Gobitis children had declined to salute, saying that they feared divine punishment if they should render this gesture of obeisance and reverence to a secular symbol. They were expelled from public school under a compulsory salute regulation passed by the local Board of Education pursuant to a state statute author- izing instruction in civics, including loyalty to the State and National Government. Together with their father (who complained of the cost of sending them to private school) they sued in a federal district court to enjoin the authorities from continuing to exact participation in the flag-salute ceremony as a con- dition of the children's attendance at the Minersville school. They asserted that the regulation as applied to them violated the constitutional guarantee of freedom of conscience. The trial court granted the relief prayed and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, in the face of several opposing Supreme Court per curiam decisions, affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, 8 to 1. Mr. Justice Frank- furter, writing for seven members of the Court,2 declared that the regulation was not a constitutionally forbidden means for fostering that binding tie of cohesive national sentiment which is the ultimate foundation of a free society. The Court based its decision on an implied legis- lative determination that the compulsory salute is a proper method of promoting this feeling of national unity, which determination the Court was unwilling to declare beyond the pale of legislative power, even in the face of a re- ligious objection. The reasoning of the majority opinion seems to run as follows: (1) The constitutional right to freedom of conscience is a historic concept which does not forbid legislation of general scope not directed against doctrinal loyalties of particular sects. Thus the religious guarantee cannot be invoked where, as here, the challenged legislation is not directed against doctrinal loyalties of particular sects but is a general measure enacted in furtherance of an im- portant public purpose, even though the legislation hap- pens to work a special hardship on certain persons because of their religious beliefs. This eliminates the religious aspect of the case and leaves only the question whether the salute, even when required of unwilling children, is a reasonable way to promote the interest in national unity-an interest inferior to none in the hierarchy of legal values. (Continued on Page 10) 1. 84 L. ed. (Adv.) 993. 2. Mr. Justice McReynolds concurred in the result and Mr. Justice Stone dissented with opinion. Recent Items of Interest CIVIL RIGHTS Violence Against Jehovah's Witnesses In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on June 3, 1940 with respect to the validity of the compulsory flag salute for public school pupils,' has come a wave of mob violence directed against members of the Jehovah's Wit- nesses, a cult whose credo forbids obeisance to the flag as idolatrous. On June 15, the American Civil Liberties Union announced that it had requested the Civil Liberties Unit of the Department of Justice to investigate the back- ground of 42 cases in 21 states.2 Several incidents attracted wide public attention. In Maine, on June 8, 1940, two organizers of the cult were reported beaten by a crowd of 1,000 at Sanford, when they refused to salute the flag. The next day at Kennebunk, an auto party approached the home of Edwin Bobb, local leader of the cult, where Bobb and five others, warned of impending attack, had barricaded themselves. Shotgun fire wounded two of the party outside. Bobb and his five com- panions were arrested. A mob of 2500 was organized, started for the jail but on being headed off by police, marched to the Bobb home, sacked and burned it.3 On June 10, the six arrested members pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and were held in $10,000 bail each. At the arraignment, a mob pummelled and jostled Clarence Grant, an elderly cult member present as a spectator, when he refused to salute the flag. That night a cavalcade of 24 automobiles besieged Grant's home in Biddeford, and one man was wounded by buckshot in the resulting fray.4 The six Jehovah's Witnesses were finally held by Municipal Judge Harold H. Browne for the October grand jury in $5,000 bail each. On June 12, two Kennebunk residents were arrested for arson in connection with the burning of Bobb's home.5 The state police captain blamed the dis- turbances on youngsters who had gone too far, much too far in their attacks.6 On June 3, 89 members of a Christian sect were in jail in Waxahachie, Texas, for distributing religious tracts.7 On June 6, 20 Jehovah's Witnesses were run out of Cot- tonwood, Arizona, by local vigilantes who seized and burned leaflets.- On June 16, about 30 persons were run out of Elsinore, California, while the police are alleged to have sided with the attackers.9 On June 16, in Litchfield, Illinois, a mob reportedly organized by the American Legion, attacked a group of Jehovah's Witnesses distribu- ting literature, overturned or destroyed their cars, burned 1. Minersville School District v. Gobitis, 84 L. ed. (Adv.) 993, discussed in this issue of the Bulletin, opposite column. 2. A.C.L.U. press release, June 15, 1940. 3. N. Y. Times, June 10. 4. N. Y. Herald Tribune, June 11. 5. Id., June 13; Daily Worker, June 13. 6. People's World, June 12. 7. Id., June 3 and 7. 8. Id., June 6. 9. N. Y. Times, June 17; A.C.L.U. press release, June 29. 1

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