Princeton University et al. v. Schmid (455 U.S. 100)

U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 13, 1982 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)

Citation
455 U.S. 100 · 102 S. Ct. 867
Decided
January 13, 1982
Term
October Term 1981
Vote
8–0
Issue area
Judicial Power
Disposition
Petition denied or appeal dismissed
Outcome
Petitioning party lost
Ideological direction
Conservative

Opinion excerpt

Per Curiam. I Appellee Schmid was arrested and charged with criminal trespass while distributing political materials on the campus of Princeton University. Schmid was not a student at Princeton University. Under University regulations then in effect, members of the public who wished to distribute materials on the campus were required to receive permission from University officials. Appellee was tried in Princeton Borough Municipal Court and on October 20, 1978, the trial judge issued an opinion convicting appellee and fining him $15 plus $10 costs. A de novo trial in the New Jersey Superior Court, Law Division, also resulted in conviction and the same fine was imposed. While appeal was pending to the Superior Court, Appellate Division, the case was certified for review by the New Jersey Supreme Court. That court invited the University to intervene and participate as a party, which it did! The New Jersey Supreme Court reversed the judgment of conviction, holding that appellee’s rights of speech and assembly under the New Jersey Constitution had been violated. State v. Schmid, 84 N. J. 535, 423 A. 2d 615 (1980). The University filed a notice of appeal and jurisdictional statement. Its claim is that the judgment below deprives it of its rights under the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. The State of New Jersey did not file a separate…

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