Stromberg v. California
Stromberg v. California was a significant Supreme Court case decided in 1931 during the Red Scare, a period marked by heightened fears of communism in the United States. The case arose when Yetta Stromberg, an instructor at a children's camp, was arrested for displaying a red flag, which California had outlawed under a statute that was not actively enforced until prompted by a right-wing group. The Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision led by Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes, ruled that the California law was overly vague and infringed upon First Amendment rights, specifically the concept of symbolic speech. This landmark decision was pivotal because it was the first time the Court extended the protections of the Fourteenth Amendment to safeguard free speech from state regulations. The ruling highlighted the importance of protecting diverse forms of expression, especially those that may challenge prevailing governmental authority. Dissenting opinions from Justices Butler and McReynolds emphasized concerns about the implications of this broad interpretation of speech rights. Overall, Stromberg v. California serves as a foundational case in the development of free speech jurisprudence in the United States.
Stromberg v. California
Date: May 18, 1931
Citation: 283 U.S. 359
Issue: Symbolic speech
Significance: The Supreme Court first used the Fourteenth Amendment’s incorporation of the First Amendment to strike a state law limiting freedom of speech.
During the Red Scare (anticommunist hysteria) after World War I, California banned the display of a red flag but did not enforce the law until a right-wing group, Better American Federation, persuaded a local sheriff to raid a working-class children’s youth camp where they found instructor Yetta Stromberg’s red flag. Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes, who wrote the landmark opinion for the 7-2 majority, stated that citizens might have had many uses for a red flag and that the California statute was simply too vague to pass constitutional muster. The California statute could, he argued, be used to suppress a wide range of constitutionally protected opposition to those in power. The Supreme Court’s ruling was the first to extend the Fourteenth Amendment to protect a First Amendment right (symbolic speech) from state action. Justices Pierce Butler and James C. McReynolds dissented.
