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Spence v. Washington, 418 U.S. 405 (1974)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Spence v. Washington, 418 U.S. 405 (1974)
Spence v. Washington No. 72-1690 Argued January 9, 1974 Decided June 25, 1974 418 U.S. 405
APPEAL FROM SUPREME COURT OF WASHINGTON
Syllabus
For displaying out of his apartment window a United States flag upside down with a peace symbol taped thereto, appellant was convicted under Washington’s "improper use" statute forbidding the exhibition of a United States flag to which is attached or superimposed figures, symbols, or other extraneous material. He testified without contradiction at his trial that he thus displayed his flag as a protest against then-recent actions in Cambodia and fatal events at Kent State University, and that his purpose was to associate the American flag with peace instead of war and violence. The Washington Supreme Court sustained the conviction, rejecting appellant’s contention, inter alia, that the improper use statute, on its face and as applied, contravened the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
Held: The statute, as applied to appellant’s activity, impermissibly infringed a form of protected expression.
81 Wash.2d 788, 506 P.2d 293, reversed.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Spence v. Washington, 418 U.S. 405 (1974) in 418 U.S. 405 Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=1K85FHGFL15BF7I.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Spence v. Washington, 418 U.S. 405 (1974), in 418 U.S. 405, Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=1K85FHGFL15BF7I.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Spence v. Washington, 418 U.S. 405 (1974). cited in 1974, 418 U.S. 405. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=1K85FHGFL15BF7I.
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