West virginia board of education
Date: 1942
Region: North America
Subject: Mandatory Flag Salute
Medium: Public School
Artist: students and teachers
Confronting Bodies: West Virginia Board of Education
Dates of Action: 1942
Location: West Virginia, United States
Description of Artwork: Mandatory Flag Salute
The Incident: The West Virginia School board made the flag salute mandatory during school. Failure to do so would be punished by expulsion.
Results of Incident: The court found in a six to three decision that a mandatory flag salute was unconstitutional, as a force of symbolic speech is a force of ideas and opinions. This ruling is important, as it overturned the decision in Minversville School District vs. Gobitis.