Nonverbal communication and the first amendment: The rhetoric of the streets revisited

Abstract

Developments of the last fifteen years in the relationship of free speech theory to nonverbal communication lead to the conclusion that many purely symbolic, emotive and victimless modes of nonverbal expression have won a firm place under the umbrella of First Amendment protection but that some nonverbal forms of communication, such as flag and draft card burnings, economic boycotts, and coercive persuasion generally, are still viewed as raising troublesome First Amendment questions.