Prince v. Massachusetts

Text

https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep321/usrep321158/usrep321158.pdf

Holding

State criminal law regulating child labor, applied to guardian of nine-year-old girl distributing religious tracts on the public streets in the evening, is not a denial or abridgment of free exercise rights.

Citation

321 U.S. 158

Year

1944

Ratio

5-4

Author

Rutledge, J.

Religious Tradition Involved

Jehovah's Witnesses

State/Territory of Origin

MA

Clause (Free Exercise / Establishment / Both / Other)

Free Exercise

Does it involve religious institution(s) or individual(s)

Individual

Local / State / Federal Legislation

State

Dissent Author(s)

Murphy, J.

Uphold / Overturn Penultimate Court

Upheld

Penultimate court of appeals

Superior Court of MA, Plymouth County

Penultimate court opinion citation

Com. v. Prince, 46 N.E.2d 755 (Mass. 1943), aff'd sub nom. Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158 (1944)

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