Biography
David Paul O'Brien was arrested on March 31, 1966.
On March 31, 1966, David Paul O'Brien and three companions burned their draft cards on the steps of the South Boston Courthouse before a crowd that included FBI agents; the crowd then attacked the burners. Prosecuted under the 1965 amendment, he was convicted and sentenced to the maximum six years as a youth offender under the Youth Corrections Act. His appeal produced the landmark Supreme Court decision United States v. O'Brien (1968), which held that draft-card burning was not protected symbolic speech.
Photo: An Introduction to Constitutional Law, Randy E. Barnett and Josh Blackman; existing credit watermark retained. Original-image crop; identified by the source (single subject labelled David Paul O'Brien burning his draft card). Source: https://conlaw.us/case/united-states-v-obrien-1968/ . Non-free image used under the site's educational/memorial rationale; no permission or open-license claim.
