June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

BILL OF RIGHTS

June 15, 1215: King John sealed the Magna Carta at Runnymede, establishing certain fundamental rights as part of the law in England.  [British Library article] (see December 16, 1689)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Death Penalty/Margaret Jones

June 15, 1648:  Margaret Jones of Plymouth was found guilty of witchcraft and was sentenced to be hanged. Hers was the first execution for witchcraft in the Massachusetts Bay colony. Jones was a herbalist, midwife and self-described physician. [History of Massachusetts article] (next Death Penalty, see March 24, 1661)

Of Husband and Wife

From 1776 – 1830 State laws rather than federal law governed women’s rights in the United State and most of those laws were based on Sir William Blackstone’s 1769  “Of Husband and Wife” in his Commentaries on the Laws of England.  In “Of Husband and Wife” he explained the legal concept of Coverture, whereby, upon marriage, a woman’s legal rights were subsumed by those of her husband. He explained:

By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in law: that is, the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband: under whose wing, protection, and cover, she performs every thing; and is therefore called in our law-French a feme-covert; is said to be covert-baron, or under the protection and influence of her husband, her baron, or lord; and her condition during her marriage is called her coverture. Upon this principle, of a union of person in husband and wife, depend almost all the legal rights, duties, and disabilities, that either of them acquire by the marriage. I speak not at present of the rights of property, but of such as are merely personal. For this reason, a man cannot grant any thing to his wife, or enter into covenant with her: for the grant would be to suppose her separate existence; and to covenant with her, would be only to covenant with himself: and therefore it is also generally true, that all compacts made between husband and wife, when single, are voided by the intermarriage. [Lonang Institute article] (see May 20, 1782)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Anarchism in the US and Emma Goldman

Espionage Act

June 15, 1917: President Woodrow Wilson signed the Espionage Act, which set penalties of up to thirty years’ imprisonment and fines of up to $10,000 for persons aiding US enemies, interfering with the draft, or encouraging disloyalty in the armed forces. On the same day, Goldman, Berkman, and William Bales are arrested at the Mother Earth offices. Manuscripts, letters and subscription lists, as well as subscription lists for the No-Conscription League and another publication, The Blast, are confiscated. [Digital History article on Act] (Espionage Act, see March 3, 1919; see Goldman for expanded story)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Duluth, Minnesota lynching

June 15, 1920: a mob in Duluth, Minnesota attacked and lynched three African American circus workers. Rumors had circulated that six African Americans had raped and robbed a teenage girl. A physician’s examination subsequently found no evidence of rape or assault. [Minnesota Historical Society article]  (BH, see July 20; next Lynching, see Oct 5; Duluth lynching see October 10, 2003; for for expanded chronology, see American Lynching 2)

Congress of Racial Equality

June 15, 1943: a group of students, including James Farmer and Bayard Rustin, founded the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in Chicago.. They had found inspiration in Mahatma Gandhi and his nonviolent victory over British colonial rule of India for their struggle to achieve full legal rights for African Americans. [CORE site] (see June 15)

Beaumont, Texas Race Massacre

June 15, 1943: a mob of white shipyard workers in Beaumont, Texas, confronted African-American employees after a local white woman claimed that she had been raped by an African-American man. The mob of roughly 3000 men marched on City Hall to capture the man who had been arrested for the crime, then broke into smaller groups and began destroying property in the nearby black neighborhoods and attacking African-American citizens. In total, the mob robbed and burned more than 100 homes.

The Mayor of Beaumont called in the National Guard to dismantle the mob, and the town was placed under martial law for five days. During this time, all roads into the city were blocked, African Americans were not allowed to go to work, and all public gatherings were cancelled. By the end of the riots, 21 people had been killed and more than 200 were arrested. Only 29 of the 200 arrested were charged, and no one was prosecuted for any of the deaths. [Black Past article] (see June 20)

Freedom Riders (Florida)

June 15, 1961: shortly before the Florida Freedom Riders were scheduled to board an airplane and return to Washington, D.C., they and local activists attempted to integrate the Tallahassee Airport’s segregated restaurant. The restaurant closed to avoid serving the riders and eight riders departed as planned for Washington. Ten riders and three local activists remained at the airport and demanded service throughout the night and into the following day. On June 16, 1961, the group was arrested and charged with unlawful assembly. (see June 16)

Medgar Evers funeral

June 15, 1963: wake of Medgar Evers in Jackson, Mississippi [images] (BH, see June 18; Evers, see June 23)

George Whitmore, Jr

June 15, 1967: Kings County Supreme Court Justice Philip M. Kleinfeld granted a motion to release George Whitmore, Jr. on $5,000 bail. The additional time he had spent in custody following his third conviction in the Elba Borrero case had added 395 days of incarceration to the 810 days he had served pending his first two trials and his first release on bail, bringing Whitmore’s total incarceration time to two years, fifteen weeks, and five days. (BH, see June 27; see GW for expanded story)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Bonus March

June 15, 1932:  the Patman bill (see May 29) passed in the House of Representatives. [Politico article] (see June 17)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Cultural Milestones

Port Huron Statement

June 15, 1962: Students for a Democratic Society issued the Port Huron Statement at the conclusion of a five-day convention in Michigan. The 25,700-word statement “articulated the fundamental problems of American society and laid out a radical vision for a better future“. It issued a nonideological call for participatory democracy, “both as a means and an end“, based on non-violent civil disobedience and the idea that individual citizens could help make “those social decisions determining the quality and direction” of their lives. Also known as the “Agenda for a Generation”, it “brought the term ‘participatory democracy’ into the common parlance”. [original draft] (see June 25)

“Hee Haw”

June 15, 1969: the variety show “Hee Haw” premiered on CBS. (see Nov 10)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

July 15 Music et al

“Sukiyaki”

June 15 – July 5, 1963: “Sukiyaki” by Kyo Sakamot #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It remains the only Japanese song to reach number one on the Billboard pop charts in the US

Bob Dylan

June 15, 1965:  Dylan recorded “Like a Rolling Stone” at Columbia Studios in NYC. Mike Bloomfield played lead guitar. Guest Al Kooper slides behind Hammond organ uninvited. Dylan and producer Tom Wilson disagree about the organ, but Dylan insists the instrument be brought forward in the mix.

Columbia released the single on July 20, it is considered by some to be the greatest rock and roll song ever. (see June 21)

The Graduate

June 15 – June 28. 1968: Simon and Garfunkel’s soundtrack to The Graduate is again the Billboard #1 album.

The Road to Bethel: June 15, 1969

• local residents Cliff Reynolds and Brent Rismiller (also aState policeman) hired Jules Minker (a local lawyer who worked in NYC) to bring an injunction against festival.
• Wes Pomeroy arrived in Wallkill. Late that night Pomeroy heard about the threats Howard Mills and his family had anonymously received. Set up security around Mills’ house. (see Road for expanded story)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Voting Rights

Reynolds v. Sims

June 15, 1964: the US Supreme Court ruled that state legislature districts had to be roughly equal in population. The case was brought on behalf of voters in Alabama, but the decision affected both northern and southern states that had similarly failed to reapportion their legislatures in keeping with changes in state population. [Oyez article] (see June 19)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Daniel Ellsberg/Pentagon Papers

June 15, 1971: invoking “prior restraint,” the government obtained from the court a temporary injunction to stop The New York Times from publishing any more material from the Pentagon Papers. (see DE/PP for expanded story)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Stop and Frisk Policy

June 15, 1976: The case, People v. De Bour, established criteria for police stop-and-frisk. [Justia article] (see March 9, 1999)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Irish Troubles

Hunger Strike increases

June 15, 1981:  Sinn Féin issued a statement to say that a Republican prisoner would join the hunger strike every week. [This was seen as a stepping-up of the hunger strike. Paddy Quinn, then an Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoner joined the strike.]

Sunday Bloody Sunday

June 15, 2010:  The report on the second inquiry into Sunday Bloody Sunday (1972) is published. It stated, “The firing by soldiers of 1 PARA on Bloody Sunday caused the deaths of 13 people and injury to a similar number, none of whom was posing a threat of causing death or serious injury,” and also said, “The immediate responsibility for the deaths and injuries on Bloody Sunday lies with those members of Support Company whose unjustifiable firing was the cause of those deaths and injuries.”  The head of the committee, Lord Saville of Newdigate, stated that British paratroopers “lost control.”  [Irish News timeline article] (see Troubles for more)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

Student Rights/Plyler v. Doe

June 15, 1982: in Plyler v. Doe the US the Supreme Court struck down a state statute denying funding for education to illegal immigrant children and simultaneously struck down a municipal school district’s attempt to charge illegal immigrants an annual $1,000 tuition fee for each illegal immigrant student to compensate for the lost state funding.

The Court found that where states limit the rights afforded to people (specifically children) based on their status as immigrants, this limitation must be examined under an intermediate scrutiny standard to determine whether it furthers a substantial goal of the State. [Oyez article] (IH, see August 28, 1987; SR, see April 26, 1983; P v D, see March 11, 2014)

DACA

June 15, 2012: President Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a policy that allowed certain illegal immigrants who entered the country as minors, to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for a work permit. The date was the anniversary of  Plyler v. Doe, which  barred public schools from charging illegal immigrant children tuition. Republican Party leaders denounced the program as an abuse of executive power.  [Obama remarks] (Immigration, see May 24, 2013; DACA, see September 5, 2017)

Kerry v Din

June 15, 2015: the US Supreme Court held 5 -4 that because Kanishka Berashk was not a U.S. citizen, he did not have the right to get a court review, and his U.S. citizen wife also did not have a due-process right to get the visa denial challenged in a federal court.

Steven Yale-Loehr, a law professor at Cornell University, said the Supreme Court’s decision on this case has a much broader impact on immigration to the U.S.

“If a U.S. citizen marries a Chinese citizen in China and tries to petition through the green-card process to have the foreign spouse come over to the United States, and if the U.S. (consulate) in Guangzhou were to deny the visa because the foreign spouse is a former member of the Communist Party, or they allege maybe the Chinese citizen committed some crimes in the past even though it is unproven, that would not be reviewable in the U.S. court,” Yale-Loehr said.

That means the couple would be either separated or the U.S. citizen spouse would have to move to China to live there with his or her spouse, he added.

Kerry William Bretz, a New York-based immigration attorney, said the court clearly separated the rights for people inside and outside the U.S.

“Due process applies to people who are in the United States, whether you are a citizen, not a citizen and you cross the border without inspection,” Bretz said. “It does not apply to people abroad.

“Most of the folks that are looking for review of the denial of visas are abroad and they are asking for a nonimmigrant visa, and any nonimmigrant visa is at the discretion of the Department of State,” he said. [Justia article]

Mata v. Lynch

June 15, 2015: Noel Reyes Mata, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was put in deportation proceedings after he was convicted of assault. Mata’s appeal was ultimately denied by the Immigration Board of Appeals after his attorneys failed to submit the appeals brief and later missed the deadline in filing motions to reopen the case.

After the lower court dismissed Mata’s case, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the federal appeals court has the authority to hear his case and decide whether people facing deportation should be able to extend the deadlines in immigration proceedings.

Yale-Loehr, of Cornell University, said the Supreme Court emphasized procedural protections in immigration deportation proceedings.

“The Supreme Court said, ‘Look, we are not going to decide whether the Mexican citizen case should be overturned, but at least the federal court has jurisdiction to hear the case.’ ”  [Oyez article] (see June 16)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT/June 15, 1998

•  deputy White House Counsel Bruce Lindsey filed an appeal of federal Judge Norma Holloway Johnson’s decision to deny him attorney-client privilege in the Lewinsky case.
• the publication of an article in the new magazine of media criticism, Brill’s Content, alleging that Ken Starr leaked information to the media leads Judge Holloway to hold a private meeting with lawyers for both sides of the case to investigate the charges. The magazine’s editor and creator, Steven Brill, said Starr admitted to the leaks in a 90-minute interview. (see CI for expanded story)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

June 15, 2006:  number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq reaches 2,500 [Reuters, 6/15/06] (see June 20)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Fourth Amendment

Hudson v. Michigan

June 15, 2006:  the US Supreme Court held that a violation of the Fourth Amendment requirement that police officers knock, announce their presence, and wait a reasonable amount of time before entering a private residence (the knock-and-announce requirement) does not require suppression of the evidence obtained in the ensuing search. [Oyez article]  (see July 25, 2009)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Foxconn

June 15, 2006: Apple investigated claims that Chinese female workers at a factory in Longhu which manufactures the iPod nano music players, earned only $50 a month, work 15-hour shifts, and endure “slave” conditions, contrary to the company’s stated employment policies. (see May 25, 2010)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Volunteering

June 15, 2010: according to “Volunteering in America,” 63.4 million Americans gave 8.1 billion hours through  formal organizations in 2009.

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Sexual Abuse of Children

June 15, 2015:  Archbishop John C. Nienstedt and an auxiliary bishop, Lee A. Piché, of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis resigned their posts, the second time this spring that American church leaders had stepped aside after complaints over their handling of sexual abuse claims involving priests.

Nienstedt and Piché, announced their departures less than two weeks after prosecutors in St. Paul accused the archdiocese of willfully ignoring warning signs of a pedophile priest. Their resignations followed the April exit (see April 21, 2015),  of Bishop Robert W. Finn from the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri, who had been convicted of a misdemeanor for failing to report a priest who took pornographic pictures of girls. [NYT article]  (see Aug 4)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

June 15, 2015: the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from North Carolina to revive a requirement that abortion providers show and describe an ultrasound to a pregnant woman before she has an abortion.

The justices left in place an appeals court decision that said the 2011 North Carolina law was “ideological in intent” and violated doctors’ free-speech rights.

The North Carolina law would have required abortion providers to display and describe the ultrasound even if the woman refused to look and listen – a mandate that the court found particularly troublesome.

“North Carolinians should take comfort in knowing that this intrusive and unconstitutional law, which placed the ideological agenda of politicians above a doctor’s ability to provide a patient with the specific care she needs, will never go into effect,” Sarah Preston, acting executive director of the ACLU of North Carolina, said in a statement. “We’re very glad the courts have recognized that politicians have no business interfering in personal medical decisions that should be left to a woman and her doctor.” [NYT article] (see June 29)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

June 15, 2015:  the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that employers’ zero-tolerance drug policies trump Colorado’s medical marijuana laws. In a 6-0 decision, the Colorado Supreme Court affirmed lower court rulings that businesses can fire employees for the use of medical marijuana — even if it’s off-duty. [Denver Post article] (next Cannabis, see June 18 or see CCC for expanded cannabis chronology)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

June 15, 2020: the NY Times reported that the Supreme Court had ruled in BOSTOCK v. CLAYTON COUNTY, GEORGIA that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination.

The vote was 6 to 3, with Justice Neil M. Gorsuch writing the majority opinion. In the beginning of his opinion, he wrote:  Sometimes small gestures can have unexpected consequences. Major initiatives practically guarantee them. In our time, few pieces of federal legislation rank in significance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

He was joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars employment discrimination based on race, religion, national origin and sex. The question for the justices was whether that last prohibition — discrimination “because of sex”— applies to many millions of gay and transgender workers.

The decision, covering two cases, was the court’s first on L.G.B.T. rights since the retirement in 2018 of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinions in all four of the court’s major gay rights decisions. (next LGBTQ, see Oct 5)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

June 15, 2023: the Supreme Court preserved the system that gives preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings of Native children, rejecting a broad attack from some Republican-led states and white families who argued it is based on race.

The court left in place the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act, which was enacted to address concerns that Native children were being separated from their families and, too frequently, placed in non-Native homes.

Tribal leaders have backed the law as a means of preserving their families, traditions and cultures and had warned that a broad ruling against the tribes could have undermined their ability to govern themselves. [AP article] (next NA, see Aug 8)

June 15 Peace Love Art Activism

June 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Anarchism in the US and Emma Goldman

June 14, 1917: Goldman and Alexander Berkman spoke at a No-Conscription League mass meeting. After the meeting, the police required men of draft age to show their conscription cards. As a result 30 men were detained and two arrested. (see Goldman for expanded story)

June 14 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Luisiana Prohibits Cohabitation

June 14, 1910: Louisiana’s House of Representatives broadened its ban on interracial marriage by passing legislation, by a vote of 93 to 10, prohibiting Black people and white people from living together under any circumstances. Under the new legislation, cohabitation was a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to five years. Governor Jared Sanders signed the bill into the law on July 16, 1910. [EJI article] (next BH, see June 25)

Anti-lynching demonstration

June 14, 1922: Blacks from Washington, DC staged a silent parade to protest continued lynchings and in an effort to promote action by Congress on the Dyer anti-lynching bill before the Senate Judiciary Committee. [Washington Area article] (see June 23)

Scottsboro Tragedy

June 14, 1937: Haywood Patterson’s conviction upheld by the Alabama Supreme Court. (see SB  for expanded story)

Robert Kennedy

June 14, 1963: Attorney General Robert Kennedy used a bullhorn to address civil rights demonstrators at the Justice Department. The demonstrators marched to the White House, then to the District Building, and wound up at the Justice Department. [image]

Maryland martial law

June 14, 1963: Maryland Gov. J. Millard Tawes declared martial law and sent National Guard troops to Cambridge to quell protests there after segregationists clashed with the 500 protesters marching downtown. Weeks after the National Guard left, protesters were assaulted again, leading to more protests. The National Guard returned. [Liberation article] (see June 15)

Freedom Summer

June 14, 1964: having announced (March 20, 1964) a voter registration drive in Mississippi called “Freedom Summer,” SNCC began volunteer training at Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio. (BH, see June 16; VR, see June 15)

Statue of Liberty

June 14, 1965: a Federal Court jury found Robert S Collier, Walter Bowe, Khaleel Sayyed  guilty of conspiring to blow up the Statue of Liberty and other national shrines and of smuggling dynamite from Canada for that purpose. [Justia article] (BH, see July 1; Terrorism, see Nov 4)

Minnie Lee & Mary Alice Relf

June 14, 1973: fourteen-year-old Minnie Lee Relf and her twelve-year old mentally disabled sister, Mary Alice, were sterilized without their knowledge or consent after nurses with the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, a federally funded family planning agency, deceived their illiterate mother into believing that she was consenting to the girls receiving Women’s Health shots.

Two years earlier, after moving into public housing with their family, Mary Alice, Minnie Lee, and their older sister, Katie, had been administered experimental Women’s Health injections by the local family clinic without their informed consent and initially without their parents’ consent. After the federal government ended the experimental Women’s Health trials, clinic nurses decided that the girls should be sterilized. The clinic targeted the girls for the procedure because they were poor, black, and living in public housing. More cognitively advanced than her younger sisters, Katie narrowly escaped sterilization on June 14 by hiding from the clinic nurse who came to their house.

After the procedure, Mary Alice and Minnie Lee revealed to their parents that instead of receiving shots, they had undergone surgery. [Black Then article] (BH, see June 21; Relf family, see June 27)

Dee/Moore Murders

June 14, 2007: James Seale convicted by a federal jury on one count of conspiracy to kidnap two persons, and two counts of kidnapping where the victims were not released unharmed. (BH, see Aug 10; see Dee/Moore Murders for expanded story)

Laquan McDonald

June 14, 2019: Showtime network released “16 Shots” a documentary examining the 2014 shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke and the cover-up that ensued. After the police initially declared the shooting as justified, journalists and activists fought for footage of the event to be released, sending the Chicago Police Department and local Chicago government officials into upheaval as the community demanded justice. (rogerebert.com review) (B & S, see June 18; LMc, see July 18)

Crime and Punishment

June 14, 2021:  the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that some crack cocaine offenders sentenced to harsh prison terms more than a decade ago cannot get their sentences reduced under a federal law adopted with the purpose of doing just that.

At issue in the case was the long and now notorious history of sentencing under the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which established harsh mandatory prison sentences based on the amount of drugs that the defendant possessed or sold. The triggering amount, however, was different for crack cocaine used most often by Black people, and powder cocaine, used most often by whites.

Indeed, the ratio was 100-to-1, so that a five-year mandatory minimum penalty, for instance, was triggered by possession of 5 grams of crack, whereas the same penalty was triggered by 500 grams of powder cocaine. [NYT article] (next BH, see Sept 27; next C & P, see September 26, 2022)

June 14 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Industrial Workers of the World

June 14, 1924: the Ku Klux Klan attacked members of the Industrial Workers of the World at the IWW’s meeting hall in San Pedro, California, during a benefit for the families of two workers killed in a railroad accident. The KKK beat many of the 300 members; kidnapped, tarred, and feathered others; destroyed everything inside the building; and scalded two children by burning them with a pot of coffee. [U of Washington article] (Labor, see August 25, 1925; Terrorism, see June 1, 1925)

June 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

Federal Bureau of Narcotics

June 14, 1930: the Federal Bureau of Narcotics formed as an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury. It consolidated the functions of the Federal Narcotics Control Board and the Narcotic Division.  Harry J. Anslinger was appointed its first commissioner. He had joined the Treasury Department in 1926 and by 1929 was Assistant Commissioner of Prohibition.

As part of his effort to propagandize the so-called evils of cannabis, Anslinger sought crime stories that he tied to cannabis use. These stories collectively became know as the “Gore Files.”  He used these stories in his many public speeches regarding his perceived danger of cannabis.

He also erroneously but deliberately connected the etymologies of the words hashish and assassin.

Criminalization

In 1933, marijuana became the target of government control. Sensationalist stories linked violent acts to cannabis consumption. Many of the most outlandish stories appeared in newspapers published by William Randolph Hearst. Hearst reportedly had financial interests in the lumber and paper industries. He may have sought to eliminate competition from hemp.

The first laws against cannabis in the United States were passed in border towns with Mexico. Hearst was an up-and-coming newspaper tycoon, owning twenty-eight newspapers by the mid-1920s. Hearst dropped the words cannabis and hemp from his newspapers and began a propaganda campaign against ‘marijuana,’ (see Cannabis for expanded marijuana chronology)

Hawaii decriminalization

June 14, 2000:  Hawaii broke new ground when it became the first state to enact a law to remove criminal penalties for medical marijuana users via a state legislature. Hawaii’s governor Ben Cayetano submitted the original bill and signed the final measure into law on June 14, 2000.

Senate Bill 862 was passed by a vote of 32-18 in the House and 13-12 Senate, making Hawaii the sixth state to legalize medical marijuana.” (see Cannabis Continued for expanded chronology)

June 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Free Speech

West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette

June 14, 1943: the US Supreme Court held that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution protected students from being forced to salute the American flag and say the Pledge of Allegiance in school. It was a significant court victory won by Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose religion forbade them from saluting or pledging to symbols, including symbols of political institutions. However, the Court did not address the effect the compelled salutation and recital ruling had upon their particular religious beliefs, but instead ruled that the state did not have the power to compel speech in that manner for anyone.

Barnette overruled a 1940 decision on the same issue, Minersville School District v. Gobitis (also involving the children of Jehovah’s Witnesses), in which the Court stated that the proper recourse for dissent was to try to change the school policy democratically. [Oyez article] (see Pledge for expanded story; FS, see March 26, 1948)

Flag Day

June 14, 1954: President Eisenhower signed the bill into law on Flag Day, stating, “From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural school house, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty. … In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource, in peace or in war.”  [full text] (see October 31, 1969)

Newdow v. U.S. Congress

June 14, 2004:  the US Supreme Court overturned a Ninth Circuit Court decision that struck the addition of “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance. The 8-0 ruling was reached on a technicality: that Michael Newdow did not have standing to bring the case in the first place. [Oyez article] (see February 1, 2018)

Political buttons

June 14, 2018: Minnesota law prohibited people from wearing a “political badge, political button, or other political insignia” in polling places on Election Day.

In Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky, the US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that Minnesota’s political apparel law violated the First Amendment. The Supreme Court struck down the Minnesota law, finding that it is overly broad so people will not know what they can and cannot wear to polling places. (see July 10)

June 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Fourth Amendment

Trupiano v. United States

June 14, 1948: the US Supreme Court that ruled that warrantless searches following arrests were unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.  [Justia article] (4^th, see June 27, 1949; Trupiano, see February 20, 1950)

June 14 Peace Love Art Activism

McCarthyism

General George C. Marshall

June 14, 1951:  Senator Joe McCarthy accused General George C. Marshall of assisting the cause of international Communism. As Army Chief of Staff and military adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Marshall was one of the heroes of World War II. He also served as Secretary of State under President Harry Truman (1947–1949) and was the author of the famous Marshall Plan, which was named for him, and which was designed to revitalize the economies of European countries after World War II as a way of fending off Communist influence. [Shmoop article] (see Sept 1)

President Dwight Eisenhower

June 14, 1953: in a commencement speech at Dartmouth College, President Dwight Eisenhower made one of his very few public criticisms of Senator Joe McCarthy (R–Wisconsin). Without mentioning his name, and as part of a discussion of courage, Ike told the graduates to not become “book burners.” His comments were prompted by a recent event in which two of McCarthy’s top aides toured American facilities in Europe, inspecting U.S. Information Agency libraries and demanding the removal of books by alleged “radicals” (see April 5, 1953). When asked about his comments at his next press conference, however, Eisenhower backtracked and denied that he meant to criticize McCarthy. [Civil Liberties History article] (RS, see June 19; Free Speech, see October 26, 1954)

June 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

Civil defense drill

June 14, 1954:  the US went through its first nationwide civil defense drill. Though American officials were satisfied with the results of the drill, the event stood as a stark reminder that the United States—and the world—was now living under a nuclear shadow.

The civil defense drill was organized and evaluated by the Civil Defense Administration, and included operations in 54 cities in the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Alaska, and Hawaii. Canada also participated in the exercise. The basic premise of the drill was that the United States was under massive nuclear assault from both aircraft and submarines, and that most major urban areas had been targeted. At 10 a.m., alarms were sounded in selected cities, at which time all citizens were supposed to get off the streets, seek shelter, and prepare for the onslaught. Each citizen was supposed to know where the closest fallout shelter was located; these included the basements of government buildings and schools, underground subway tunnels, and private shelters. Even President Dwight D. Eisenhower took part in the show, heading to an underground bunker in Washington, D.C. The entire drill lasted only about 10 minutes, at which time an all-clear signal was broadcast and life returned to normal. Civil Defense Administration officials estimated that New York City would suffer the most in such an attack, losing over 2 million people. Other cities, including Washington, D.C., would also endure massive loss of life. In all, it was estimated that over 12 million Americans would die in an attack. (see February 17, 1955)

June 14 Peace Love Art Activism

June 14 Music et al

Beatles VI

June 14, 1965, The Beatles released  Beatles VI. (the 6^th Capitol label release. From All Music: Six months had elapsed since the release of Beatles ’65 in America, and the powers that were at Capitol Records recognized that some new product was needed, especially as the group was about to tour the United States. The result was Beatles VI, using the remaining tracks off of the British-released Beatles for Sale album (going all the way back to the fall of the previous year), among them that album’s highlight, a cover of Buddy Holly’s “Words of Love,” and four new songs, two of them from the second side of the soon-to-be-released U.K. Help! album.

All I Really Want to Do

June 14, 1965: The Byrds release their second single, Bob Dylan’s All I Really Want to Do. It reached #40 on the Billboard Hot 100  (see June 15)

The Road to Bethel

June 14, 1969: John Roberts and Joel Rosenman received a certified letter from Wallkill Town Attorney Joseph Owen requesting submission of  fourteen divisions of production plans.

That day (or the next day or the day after) Abbie Hoffman called Michael Lang saying that he (Hoffman) needed money from Woodstock Ventures or else he (Hoffman) would shut down the festival. (see Chronology for expanded story)

June 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

South Vietnam Leadership

June 14, 1965: mounting Roman Catholic opposition to South Vietnamese Premier Phan Huy Quat’s government led him to resign. On this day, a military triumvirate headed by Army General Nguyen Van Thieu took over and expanded to a 10-man National Leadership Committee. The Committee decreed the death penalty for Viet Cong (aka, National Liberation Front) terrorists, corrupt officials, speculators, and black marketeers. The Catholics approved of Quat’s resignation and warned the military against favoring the Buddhists, who asked for an appointment of civilians to the new cabinet. (V, see June 16; SVL, see September 3, 1967)

Spock et al convicted

June 14, 1968: Dr. Benjamin Spock, Michael Ferber, Mitch Goodman, and Rev. William Sloane Coffin were convicted of conspiracy to obstruct the draft during the Vietnam War. Author of Baby and Child Care (1946), Dr. Spock was the most famous pediatrician in the U.S. He first became an anti-nuclear weapons testing and then a vocal critic of the Vietnam War. Also convicted were. Co-defendant Marcus Raskin was found not guilty.

One of the principal documents offered by the prosecution was “A Call to Resist Illegitimate Authority,” published on September 27, 1967. [NYT article] (Vietnam, see “in July”; Spock, see July 11, 1969)

June 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

DDT banned

June 14, 1972:   the Environmental Protection Agency ordered a ban on continued domestic use of the pesticide DDT, to take effect at year’s end. [PAN article] (see Oct 1)

Flint water polution

June 14, 2017: five officials in Michigan, including Nick Lyon the head of the state’s health department, were charged. It was the closest investigators had come to directly blaming officials for the deaths and illnesses that occurred when a water contamination crisis enveloped Flint.

The tainted water had been tied to lead poisoning in children and prompted officials to begin a costly, years-long process of replacing pipes all over the city. Even now, officials recommend that only filtered tap water be consumed, and many residents say they can trust only bottled water, given false assurances they once received from state and local officials. [2018 CNN article] (see July 3)

June 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Falklands War

June 14, 1982: General Mario Menendez surrendered to Major General Jeremy Moore as British forces marched into Port Stanley. (see June 17)

June 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Sexual Abuse of Children

June 14, 2002:   American Roman Catholic bishops adopted a policy to bar sexually abusive clergy from face-to-face contact with parishioners but keep them in the priesthood. (see Sept 17)

June 14 Peace Love Art Activism

TERRORISM

June 14, 2005: following criticism from around the world and senators from his own Republican party, Vice-President Dick Cheney defended all means used at Guantanamo Bay prison as justified to prevent further attacks on the US.

A report published in Time magazine and authenticated by the Pentagon had described the treatment of one prisoner “Mohammed al-Qahtani” which included:

forced to bark like a dog stand for prolonged periods had his facial hair shaved off pictures of scantily clad women hung round his neck. forcibly injected with fluids after refusing food and water. “invasion of space by a female”, in which he was straddled by a woman soldier (see Nov 22)

June 14 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

June 14, 2007: Massachusetts marriage opponents attempted to amend the constitution to strip away the freedom to marry, but the amendment was defeated when over 75 percent of the state legislature voted to stand up for all families. (see Aug 9)

June 14 Peace Love Art Activism