On this day, 3 August 1919, 19-year-old communist Yetta Stromberg was arrested for having a red flag in California. California was one of 24 states which in 1919 banned the flying of red or black socialist or anarchist flags: a crime often punishable by prison sentences of 10 years or more. Stromberg took her case to the Supreme Court and in 1931 the court overturned the bans as violating the first Amendment right to free speech.
Pictured: Stromberg in court
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