Chapter 41 - The Jehovah’s Witnesses and First Amendment Theories

Summary

The Jehovah’s Witnesses were regular litigants in the Hughes Court because they entirely denied the authority of government over their religious activities, and because their activiites routinely provoked intense controversy where they tried to proselytize. Their record in the Supreme Court was mixed, though overall they probably came out of the Supreme Court in a better position than they had been in before. But, in the Court’s most important decision dealing with the sect, the Court upheld controversial programs requiring that all students salute the US flag, including students who had religious objections to the practice. That decision, strongly criticized from the moment it was handed down, was soon repudiated, though only after Hughes had retired.