Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc. v. Village of Stratton

E365012

Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc. v. Village of Stratton is a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down a village ordinance requiring door-to-door canvassers to obtain a permit, holding that it violated First Amendment protections for anonymous religious and political advocacy.

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Predicate Object
instanceOf First Amendment case
United States Supreme Court case
door-to-door solicitation case
freedom of association case
freedom of press case
freedom of religion case
freedom of speech case
arguedDate 2002-02-26
citation 536 U.S. 150
concurrenceBy Antonin Scalia
court Supreme Court of the United States
decisionDate 2002-06-17
dissentBy William H. Rehnquist
docketNumber 00-1737
fullName Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc. v. Village of Stratton self-link
holding A village ordinance requiring a permit for door-to-door advocacy violates the First Amendment as applied to religious and political canvassing.
The ordinance impermissibly burdens anonymous political and religious speech.
The ordinance is unconstitutional because it is not narrowly tailored to serve the village’s interests in preventing fraud, crime, and undue annoyance.
issue constitutionality of permit requirement for door-to-door advocacy
joinedByInMajority Anthony M. Kennedy
Clarence Thomas
David H. Souter
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Sandra Day O’Connor
Stephen G. Breyer
William H. Rehnquist
jurisdiction United States of America
surface form: United States
legalProvisionInterpreted First Amendment to the United States Constitution
Fourteenth Amendment
surface form: Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
locationOfOrdinance Stratton, Ohio NERFINISHED
majorityOpinionBy John Paul Stevens
page 150
petitioner Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York
surface form: Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc.

individual Jehovah’s Witnesses
relatedCase Cantwell v. Connecticut
Martin v. City of Struthers
McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission
relatedTo JehovahsWitnesses
surface form: Jehovah’s Witnesses

permit requirements for canvassing
reporter United States Reports
respondent Village of Stratton, Ohio
shortName Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc. v. Village of Stratton self-linksurface differs
surface form: Watchtower v. Village of Stratton
topic anonymous speech
door-to-door canvassing
municipal regulation of solicitation
political advocacy
religious proselytizing
volume 536
voteDissent 1
voteMajority 8
yearDecided 2002

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Referenced by (3)

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Murdock v. Pennsylvania citedIn Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc. v. Village of Stratton
Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc. v. Village of Stratton fullName Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc. v. Village of Stratton self-link
Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc. v. Village of Stratton shortName Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc. v. Village of Stratton self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: Watchtower v. Village of Stratton