ALLEGIANCE

In 1935 a young Jehovah’s Witness schoolgirl called Lillian Gobitis was punished for not pledging allegiance to the flag. This led to a court case that went all the way up to the United States Supreme Court in 1940, known as Minersville School District v. Gobitis, involving the religious rights of public school students under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Court ruled then that public schools could compel students to salute the American flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance despite the students' religious objections to these practices.