In 1990, the Court upheld the constitutionality of the Equal Access Act, which declares that no public secondary school receiving federal funds may ban after-school meetings on school property by student religious or political groups if the same privilege is provided other groups. The Supreme Court has reversed a previous Court decision that prevented religious groups from obeying compulsory flag saluting. The Supreme Court held that the First Amendment protects religious observance as well as belief. In 1990, the Supreme Court refused to grant membership of the Native American Church an exemption from an Oregon law that made illegal the possession of peyote, a hallucinogenic drug used for centuries in Native American religious ceremonies. Obscene material is entirely excluded from constitutional protection.
Difficulties arise in determining what is obscene.
It portrays sexual conduct in a patently offensive way. The First Amendment guarantees that government will not interfere with the freedom of the press. The Supreme Court has extended the concept of freedom of the press to protect publishers against suits from public figures. The Supreme Court has recognized that prior restraint of the press may be necessary, but it has not specified under what circumstances restraint is appropriate. The courts have consistently held that freedom of the press does not override the requirements of law enforcement.