Schneider v. New Jersey
1939 United States Supreme Court case / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Schneider v. State of New Jersey, 308 U.S. 147 (1939), was a United States Supreme Court decision that combined four similar appeals (Schneider v. State of New Jersey (Town of Irvington), Young v. People of the State of California, Snyder v. City of Milwaukee, Nichols et al. v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts), each of which presented the question whether regulations embodied in municipal ordinances abridged the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and of the press secured against state invasion by the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution.
Schneider v. State of New Jersey | |
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Argued October 13, 16, 1939 Decided November 22, 1939 | |
Full case name | Schneider v. State of New Jersey (Town of Irvington) |
Citations | 308 U.S. 147 (more) |
Case history | |
Prior | Certiorari to the New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals |
Holding | |
The Court held that the purpose of the ordinances (to keep the streets clean and of good appearance) was insufficient to justify prohibiting defendants from handing out literature to other persons willing to receive it. | |
Court membership | |
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Case opinions | |
Majority | Roberts, joined by Hughes, Butler, Stone, Black, Reed, Frankfurter, Douglas |
Dissent | McReynolds |
Laws applied | |
U.S. Const. amend I, U.S. Const. amend. XIV |
The appellants (Jehovah's Witnesses) were charged with a violation of a local ordinance that barred persons from distributing handbills on public streets or handing them out door-to-door.