United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Taylor v. Mississippi, 319 U.S. 583 (1943)

Taylor v. Mississippi

No. 826

Argued April 15, 16, 1943

Decided June 14, 1943*

319 U.S. 583

Syllabus

1. The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits punishment under a state statute for urging and advising that, on religious grounds, citizens refrain from saluting the flags of the United States and the State. P. 319 U. S. 588.

2. Conviction under a state statute denouncing as a crime the disseminating of literature tending to create "an attitude of stubborn refusal to salute, honor, or respect" the national and state flags and governments denies the liberty guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. P. 319 U. S. 589.

3. The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits that a State should punish the communication of one's views of governmental policies and one's prophecies of the future of this and other nations when this is without sinister purpose and is not in advocacy of, or incitement to, subversive action against the nation or state, and does not involve any clear and present danger to our institutions or government. P. 319 U. S. 589.

194 Miss. 1, 59, 74, 11 So.2d 663, 683, 689, reversed.

Appeals from judgments by an evenly divided court affirming sentences imposed in three criminal prosecutions.