United States v. O'Brien

'''''United States v. O'Brien''''', 391 U.S. 367 (1968), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court, ruling that a criminal prohibition against burning a draft card did not violate the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech. Though the court recognized that O'Brien's conduct was expressive as a protest against the Vietnam War, it considered the law justified by a significant government interest unrelated to the suppression of speech and was tailored towards that end.

''O'Brien'' upheld the government's power to prosecute what was becoming a pervasive method of anti-war protest. Its more significant legacy, however, was its application of a new constitutional standard. The test articulated in ''O'Brien'' has been subsequently used by the court to analyze whether laws that have the effect of regulating speech, though are ostensibly neutral towards the content of that speech, violate the First Amendment. Though the ''O'Brien'' test has rarely invalidated laws that the court has found to be "content neutral", it has given those engaging in expressive conduct—from wearing of black armbands to burning of flags— an additional tool to invoke against prohibitions. Provided by Wikipedia