Cantwell v. State Of Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940)

"One recording calls the Catholic Church an instrument of Satan."

Connecticut, 1938. Newton Cantwell and his two sons are Jehovah's Witness ministers. They go door to door, passing out pamphlets, selling books, asking for contributions, and playing phonograph records. One recording calls the Catholic Church an instrument of Satan. This doesn't play well in a Catholic section of New Haven. The Cantwells are arrested for soliciting religious donations without a state certificate.

The state claims this certification protects the public against fraud. But a unanimous Supreme Court rules it also violates the First Amendment's "free exercise of religion" clause. "The people of this nation have ordained," write Justice Roberts, "that, in spite of the probability of excesses and abuses, these liberties are essential to enlightened opinion and right conduct on the part of the citizens of a democracy."

For more...

The Religious Freedom Page University of Virginia Library

Religious Movements: Jehovah's Witness University of Virginia Library

AMENDMENT 1 Freedom of Religion, Speech, and Assembly

Passed by Congress September 25, 1789. Ratified December 15, 1791.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. [^].

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