Smith v. Goguen

It is a crime in Massachusetts if one mutilates, tramples, defaces or “treats contemptuously” the flag of the United States. Appellee Goguen was convicted of treating the flag contemptuously, the evidence being that he wore a likeness of the flag on the seat of his pants. The Court holds this portion of the statute too vague to provide an ascertainable standard of guilt in any situation, including this one. Although I concur in the judgment of affirmance for other reasons, I cannot agree with this rationale.1

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It is self-evident that there is a whole range of conduct that anyone with at least…