James R. Belpedio was a professor of history, government and humanities at Becker College.
More Articles from this Author
Felix Frankfurter
While Justice Felix Frankfurter championed civil rights, he frequently voted to limit civil liberties and was not one of the great defenders of the First Amendment.
Flast v. Cohen (1968)
Flast v. Cohen (1968) said that taxpayers had standing under the First Amendment to sue to prevent the use of their taxes to fund religious instruction.
Gallagher v. Crown Kosher Super Market of Massachusetts (1961)
A Massachusetts law required supermarkets to remain closed on Sundays. A kosher supermarket appealed the law, but the court ruled that the law was constitutional.
Gilbert v. Minnesota (1920)
In Gilbert v. Minnesota, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Joseph Gilbert for criticizing conscription and U.S. participation in World War I.
Harlan Fiske Stone
Harlan Fiske Stone served as an associate justice and chief justice on the Supreme Court, where he showed sensitivity to civil liberties and First Amendment values.
John Marshall Harlan I
Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan I transformed himself over time from being an advocate of slavery to becoming a strong defender of First Amendment rights.
Whitney v. California (1927)
Justice Louis D. Brandeis’s concurring opinion in defense of free speech in Whitney v. California (1927) has become a milestone in First Amendment jurisprudence.