I’ve taught Barnette many times, but when I taught it this week I noticed something new. The Court at one point says the following:
It was said that the flag salute controversy confronted the Court with”the problem which Lincoln cast in memorable dilemma: ‘Must a government of necessity be too strong for the liberties of its people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?’, and that the answer must be in favor of strength. Minersville School District v. Gobitis, supra, at 310 U. S. 596.”
It may be doubted whether Mr. Lincoln would have thought that the strength of government to maintain itself would be impressively vindicated by our confirming power of the State to expel a handful of children from school. Such oversimplification, so handy in political debate, often lacks the precision necessary to postulates of judicial reasoning. If validly applied to this problem, the utterance cited would resolve every issue of power in favor of those in authority, and would require us to override every liberty thought to weaken or delay execution of their policies.
Why “Mr. Lincoln”? Shouldn’t it be “President Lincoln” or “Abraham Lincoln”? It would be odd if a current opinion referred to “Mr. Trump.”
My hypothesis is that “Mr. Lincoln” was an allusion to “Young Mr. Lincoln,” a popular movie from 1939 starring Henry Fonda. Barnette was intended for a wider audience than a typical opinion given the subject matter, the war, and the Court’s decision to issue the ruling on Flag Day to maximize publicity. A movie reference fits that template, though I don’t know if Justice Robert Jackson liked movies or that particular movie.
UPDATE: Cutting against my hypothesis is that Myers also refers to “Mr. Lincoln.” As far as I can see, though, no Supreme Court opinion since Barnette uses “Mr. Lincoln” to mean President Lincoln or Abraham Lincoln.