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Cantwell v. Connecticut (docket #: 632) (1940)  [Findlaw]

Secondary Link Cantwell v. Connecticut  [Legal Information Institute]
Argument Date 03/29/1940
Decided 5/20/1940
Supreme Court Vote 9-0
Note This was the first time that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment was applied to state and local governments through the Fourteenth Amendment.
Supreme Court Ruling First Amendment Free Exercise claim affirmed.
 
IssueDid the solicitation statute or the "breach of the peace" ordinance violate the Cantwells' First & Fourteenth Amendment free speech and/or free exercise rights?
 
Case Summary & Additional Resources
Majority Opinion Roberts, J.
Lower Court Connecticut Supreme Court
Lower Court Ruling First Amendment free exercise claim denied
Lawyers
For Petitioner
Hayden C. Covington

For Respondent
Edwin S. Pickett & Francis A. Pallotti

Opinion - Lower Court
Connecticut v. Cantwell, et al, 126 Conn. 1, 8 A.2d 533 (CN., 1939) (3-2)
News
"High Court Voids Jehovah Sect Curb; Unanimous Opinion Reverses Conviction of Father and 2 Sons in Connecticut," New York Times, May 21, 1940, p. 23
AP, "Supreme Court Outlaws 'Censorship' of Religion; Connecticut Law Requiring Solicitors of Funds to Obtain Permit Held Unconstitutional," Los Angeles Times, May 21, 1940, p. 8
Other
Cookson, Catharine, REGULATING RELIGION: THE COURTS AND THE FREE EXERCISE CLAUSE (Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 12-15, 43, 59, 186
Noonan, Jr., John T., THE LUSTRE OF OUR COUNTRY: THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM (University of California Press, 1998), pp. 34, 163, 207, 232, 242, 361
Peters, Shawn Francis, JUDGING JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES: RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION & THE DAWN OF THE RIGHTS REVOLUTION (University Press of Kansas, 2000), pp. 13, 15, 185, 186, 223-224, 227, 230-231, 240, 288, 294, 297
Tribe, Laurence, AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (2nd ed., 1988), sect. 14-13, pp. 1252-1257
Witte, Jr., John, RELIGION & THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL EXPERIMENT: ESSENTIAL RIGHTS & LIBERTIES (Westview Press, 2000), pp. 102, 112-113, 122-123, 126-127, 131, 134, 141, 147, 185, 186, 233-234
Commentary
RJ&L Religious Liberty Archieve

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