‘If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.”
Those are possibly the most majestic words ever penned in a U.S. Supreme Court opinion. They are as resonant today as they were when applied to strike down the compulsory flag salute in public schools in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, which celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. A judicial opinion proclaiming that our nation’s constitutional values are so strong that they can tolerate dissent is as worthy of celebration as are the values themselves.
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