Colleges, U.S.

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Cantwell v. Connecticut

The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States | 2005 | | Copyright

Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940), argued 29 Mar. 1940, decided 30 May 1940, by vote of 9 to 0; Roberts for the Court. In Lovell v. City of Griffin (1938), the Supreme Court sustained the free speech rights of Jehovah's Witnesses without discussing the claim of free exercise of religion. In Cantwell v. Connecticut, however, the Court relied on that clause to uphold the Witnesses' practices.

Cantwell dealt with a Witness who went from door to door asking the resident if he or she would like to hear a record or accept a pamphlet. Both materials included an attack on the Catholic religion—and this in an overwhelmingly Catholic neighborhood. The Jehovah's Witness was convicted for failing to obtain the required approval by the secretary of public welfare.

The Court adjudged the conviction invalid, expressing what would become a universal rule of law. A state may regulate the times, the places, and the manner of soliciting contributions and holding meetings on its streets, but cannot forbid them altogether. The First Amendment provided for both a freedom to believe and to act.

See also Assembly and Association, Citizenship, Freedom of; Religion; Speech and the Press; Time, Place, and Manner Rule.

Leo Pfeffer

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University of Connecticut

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

University of Connecticut mainly at Storrs; coeducational; land grant and state supported; chartered and opened 1881 as Storrs Agricultural School. It became a college in 1893 and a university in 1939. The schools of medicine, law, insurance, and social work are in or near Hartford. There are also campuses at Groton (Avery Point), Stamford, Waterbury, and Torrington. The university operates the National Undersea Research Center and a biotechnology center.

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