United States v. O'Brien
E666862
United States v. O'Brien is a landmark 1968 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld a federal law banning the destruction of draft cards and established an important test for evaluating government regulation of symbolic speech under the First Amendment.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Selective Draft Law Cases | 1 |
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
U.S. Supreme Court case
ⓘ
landmark First Amendment case ⓘ |
| arguedOn | 1968-01-24 ⓘ |
| chiefJusticeAtDecision | Earl Warren NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| citation | 391 U.S. 367 ⓘ |
| concernsProvision | federal prohibition on destruction or mutilation of draft cards ⓘ |
| concernsStatute | Universal Military Training and Service Act NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| concurrenceBy |
John M. Harlan II
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Potter Stewart NERFINISHED ⓘ Thurgood Marshall NERFINISHED ⓘ William J. Brennan Jr. NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| constitutionalProvisionInterpreted |
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Free Speech Clause NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| court | Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ |
| decade | 1960s ⓘ |
| decidedOn | 1968-05-27 ⓘ |
| defendant | David Paul O'Brien NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| dissentBy | William O. Douglas NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| docketNumber | 232 ⓘ |
| established | O'Brien test NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| fullName | United States v. David Paul O'Brien NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| holding |
Government regulation of symbolic speech is permissible if it meets the O'Brien test
ⓘ
The federal law prohibiting destruction of draft cards is constitutional as applied to O'Brien ⓘ |
| joinedByInMajority |
Byron R. White
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Hugo L. Black NERFINISHED ⓘ John M. Harlan II NERFINISHED ⓘ Potter Stewart NERFINISHED ⓘ Thurgood Marshall NERFINISHED ⓘ William J. Brennan Jr. NERFINISHED ⓘ William O. Douglas NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| jurisdiction | United States federal law NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| legalIssue |
First Amendment freedom of speech
ⓘ
constitutionality of draft card destruction ban ⓘ symbolic speech ⓘ |
| majorityOpinionBy | Earl Warren NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| OBrienTestElement |
Governmental interest must be unrelated to the suppression of free expression
ⓘ
Incidental restriction on First Amendment freedoms must be no greater than essential to further that interest ⓘ Regulation must be within the constitutional power of the government ⓘ Regulation must further an important or substantial governmental interest ⓘ |
| page | 367 ⓘ |
| plaintiff | United States NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| precedentFor |
cases involving regulation of expressive conduct
ⓘ
content-neutral time, place, and manner regulations ⓘ |
| reporter | United States Reports ⓘ |
| result | O'Brien's conviction was affirmed ⓘ |
| topic |
Vietnam War era draft
ⓘ
selective service system NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| volume | 391 ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Selective Draft Law Cases