Fowler v. Rhode Island
| Fowler v. Rhode Island | |
|---|---|
| Argued February 3, 1953 Decided March 9, 1953 | |
| Full case name | Fowler v. Rhode Island |
| Citations | 345 U.S. 67 (more) 73 S. Ct. 526; 97 L. Ed. 2d 828 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Certified question answered, State v. Fowler, 79 R.I. 16, 83 A.2d 67 (1951); conviction affirmed, 80 R.I. 85, 91 A.2d 27 (1952); probable jurisdiction noted, 73 S. Ct. 168 (1952). |
| Holding | |
| A municipal ordinance which is so construed and applied as to penalize a minister of Jehovah's Witnesses for preaching at a peaceful religious meeting in a public park, although other religious groups could conduct religious services there with impunity, violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the Federal Constitution. | |
| Court membership | |
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| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Douglas |
| Concurrence | Frankfurter, Jackson |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amends. I, XIV | |
English Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Fowler v. Rhode Island, 345 U.S. 67 (1953), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that a municipal ordinance which was used to penalize a minister of Jehovah's Witnesses for preaching at a peaceful religious meeting in a public park, although other religious groups could conduct religious services there with impunity, violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments.