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37
Opinion of the Court
Finally, in West Virginia Bd. of Ed. v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943), after the lapse of only three years, the Court overruled Minersville School Dist. v. Gobitis, 310 U. S. 586 (1940), and held that public school students could not be compelled to salute the flag in violation of their sincere beliefs. Barnette stands out because nothing had changed during the intervening period other than the Court's belated recognition that its earlier decision had been seriously wrong.
On many other occasions, this Court has overruled important constitutional decisions. (We include a partial list in the footnote that follows.[1]) Without these decisions,
- ↑ See, e.g., Obergefell v. Hodges, supra (right to same-sex marriage) (overruling Baker v. Nelson, 409 U.S. 810 (1972)); Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm'n, 558 U.S. 310 (2010) (right to engage in campaign-related speech) (overruling Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, 494 U. S. 652 (1990), and partially overruling McConnell v. Federal Election Comm'n, 540 U. S. 93 (2003)); Montejo v. Louisiana, 556 U.S. 778 (2009)(Sixth Amendment right to counsel) (overruling Michigan v. Jackson, 475 U. S. 625 (1986); Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004)(Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses) (overruling Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U. S. 56 (1980)); Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) (right to engage in consensual, same-sex intimacy one's home) (overruling Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U. S. 186 (1986)); Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002) (Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial in capital prosecutions) (overruling Walton v. Arizona, 497 U. S. 639 (1990)); Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203 (1997) (evaluating whether government aid violates the Establishment Clause) (overruling Aguilar v. Felton, 473 U. S. 402 (1985), and School Dist. of City of Grand Rapids v. Ball, 473 U. S. 373 (1985)); Seminole Tribe of Fla. v. Florida, 517 U.S. 442 (1996) (lack of congressional power under the Indian Commerce Clause to abrogate states' Eleventh Amendment immunity) (overruling Pennsylvania v. Union Gas Co., 491 U. S. 1 (1989)); Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808 (1991) (the Eighth Amendment does not erect a per se bar to the admission of victim impact evidence during the penalty phase of a capital trial) (overruling Booth v. Maryland, 482 U. S. 496 (1987), and South Carolina v. Gathers, 490 U. S. 805 (1989)); Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986) (the Equal Protection Clause guarantees the defendant that the State will not exclude members of his race from the jury venire on account of race) (overruling Swain v. Alabama, 380 U. S. 202 (1965)); Garcia v. San Antonio
