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Keywords

regulation
willcivil rightsfreedom of speechappellant

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Martin v. City of Struthers, Ohio, 319 U.S. 141, 63 S.Ct. 862, 87 L.Ed. 1313

Facts

Thelma Martin, a Jehovah's Witness, was distributing leaflets advertising a religious meeting by knocking on doors in Struthers, Ohio. She was fined $10 for violating a city ordinance that made it unlawful to summon residents to the door for the purpose of receiving handbills or advertisements. Martin argued that the ordinance infringed upon her constitutional rights to free speech and free exercise of religion.

The appellant admitted knocking at the door for the purpose of delivering the invitation, but seasonably urged in the lower Ohio state court that the ordinance as construed and applied was beyond the power of the State because in violation of the right of freedom of press and religion as guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

Issue

Does the City of Struthers' ordinance prohibiting door-to-door distribution of literature violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments' guarantees of free speech and press?

The question to be decided is whether the City, consistently with the federal Constitution's guarantee of free speech and press, possesses this power.

Rule

The First Amendment protects the right to free speech and press, which includes the distribution of literature. Any regulation must not infringe upon this right without substantial justification.

The right of freedom of speech and press has broad scope.

Analysis

The Court analyzed the ordinance in light of the constitutional protections afforded to free speech and determined that the ordinance improperly substituted the community's judgment for that of individual householders. The Court found that the ordinance did not adequately protect the rights of individuals to receive literature and that the potential nuisance it aimed to address did not justify such a broad prohibition.

We are faced in the instant case with the necessity of weighing the conflicting interests of the appellant in the civil rights she claims, as well as the right of the individual householder to determine whether he is willing to receive her message, against the interest of the community which by this ordinance offers to protect the interests of all of its citizens, whether particular citizens want that protection or not.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of conviction, holding that the ordinance was unconstitutional as it violated the rights to free speech and press.

The judgment below is reversed for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

Who won?

Thelma Martin prevailed in the case because the Supreme Court found that the city ordinance infringed upon her constitutional rights to free speech and free exercise of religion.

For this reason, and wholly aside from any other possible defects, on which we do not pass but which are suggested in other opinions filed in this case, we conclude that the ordinance is invalid because in conflict with the freedom of speech and press.

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