The idea for a conservative legal organization was perfectly timed, and not just because of the Republican ascendancy in electoral politics. In this period, liberalism may have been supreme at law school, but it was hardly an intellectually dynamic force. (查看原文)
直到1930年代末，全国的公立学校仍坚持在开学典礼上，让学生们对国旗致敬并宣誓效忠。许多“耶和华见证人”信徒反对这一做法，认为它违反了“除我以外，你不可有别的神”这一训诫。时值二战临近,爱国主义热情普遍高涨,见证人信徒的提议当然无法得到积极回应。他们的孩子被迫离开学校，住处也经常被抗议者包围，只好向最高法院寻求保护。但是，在1940年的迈纳斯维尼校区诉戈比蒂斯案（Minersvillc School District v. Gobitis)中，他们输了官司。最高法院多数意见认定，学校有权要求学生参加以“保证对民主传统理念的有效忠诚”为目的的各种仪式。
判决作出几个月后，最高法院乃至整个国家，都目睹了社会上忠诚沦丧，宗教迫害肆虐的情形。法西斯主义在欧洲导致的灾难性后果，也提醒包括所有大法官在内的美国人民，言论自由与信仰上帝有多么重要。就这样，纳粹统治作为反面样本，反而影响了美国宪政的发展。变化来得非常快。仅仅在戈比蒂斯案3年后，1943年，“耶和华见证人”再次就同类情形向最高法院提起上诉时，他们胜诉了，本案也是最高法院历史上推翻前例最快的一次。
罗伯特· H.杰克逊大法官在这起名为西弗吉尼亚州教育委员会诉巴内特案（West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette)的案件中撰写的多数意见，被称为最高法院历史上最富文采的篇章之一，判决确立的若干原则，后来也被奉为美国精神的一分。“如果积极主动参加爱国仪式的行为，被外力强迫、照本宣科或刻意逢迎所取代，相信爱国主义绝对无法弘扬。”他写道，接下来，他写下那句最为著名的判词：“如果在我们宪法的星空上有一颗不变的星辰，那就是，无论是在政治、民族主义、宗教，还是其他舆论问题上，任何官员，不论其职位高低，都无权决定什么是正确的，也无权用言词或行动来强迫公民表达... (查看原文)
Kennedy mentioned that he was on the board of an American Bar Association group that advised judges and lawyers in China, where he traveled about once a year. "There was a dinner for one of their vice premiers," he said. "I knew that I had to give a gift. W e don't have a budget for these things, so I went down to the Supreme Court gift shop, and I found one of these calendars. It was in a nice leather case, and it had some anniversary from American constitutional law for every day of the year. So we're at this dinner, and I present the calen dar to him, and he's so pleased, so I just say, 'When's your birthday? Why don't you look it up?' And he says whatever the date was and hands the calendar to the interpreter. So the interpreter just stands there. He looks at me. He looks around. There... (查看原文)
