re bann german while flip through random book linguistics library fall over something interest discussion nt follow thread mention before reference us supreme court report october term meyer v nebraska p steinberg introduction psycholinguistic longman ll quote passage full write s begin chapter hamilton county nebraska rural area unite state teacher mr robert meyer arrest violate state law mayer teach bible story german zion parochial school yearold boy nebraska law forbid teach second language child under age nebraska state prohibit teach foreign language except d ead language latin greek accord nebraska s siman act person shall teach subject person language english language language english teach after pupil shall pass eighth grade person violate provisions act shall deem guilty misdemeanor upon conviction shall subject fine less twentyfive dollar nor one hundr dollar confine county jail period exceed thirty day each offense guilty meyer fine even send jail state pass law essentially german language target america finish war germany hatr germany thing german particularly military value ideal political institution law reflect widespread belief german language embodiment evil german culture teach language young american immoral corrupt meyer decide appeal case supreme court state nebraska ironically lawyer state nebraska essentially position present german language german philosopher wilhelm von humboldt language nature represent spirit national character true teach grammar structure vocabulary german language meyer indeed harm american child german militarist right plain nebraska nebraska supreme court deny meyer s appeal meyer submit case highest court country unite state supreme court where win case court overturn conviction declare unconstitutional law unite state forbid teach foreign language rule court state one basis decision mere knowledge german language cannot reasonably regard harmful story seemingly purely theoretical issue practical consequence everyday life legal decision matter court psycholinguistic decision relationship language culture was court correct question shall consider 