Saia v. New York (334 U.S. 558)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 7, 1948 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 334 U.S. 558 · 68 S. Ct. 1148
- Docket
- No. 504
- Argued
- March 30, 1948
- Decided
- June 7, 1948
- Term
- October Term 1947
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Douglas
- Issue area
- First Amendment
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
- Constitutional ruling
- Local ordinance held unconstitutional
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Vinson, Justice Douglas (wrote), Justice Black, Justice Rutledge, Justice Murphy
- Dissenting
- Justice Burton, Justice R. H. Jackson (wrote), Justice Frankfurter (wrote), Justice Reed
Opinion excerpt
Opinion of the Court by Mr. Justice Douglas, announced by Mr. Justice Black. This case presents the question of the validity under the Fourteenth Amendment of a penal ordinance of the City of Lockport, New York, which forbids the use of sound amplification devices except with permission of the Chief of Police. Appellant is a minister of the religious sect known as Jehovah’s Witnesses. He obtained from the Chief of Police permission to use sound equipment, mounted atop his car, to amplify lectures on religious subjects. The lectures were given at a fixed place in a public park on designated Sundays. When this permit expired, he applied for another one but was refused on the ground that complaints had been made. Appellant nevertheless used his equipment as planned on four occasions, but without a permit. He was tried in Police Court for violations of the ordinance. It was undisputed that he used his equipment to amplify speeches in the park and that they were on religious subjects. Some witnesses testified that they were annoyed by the sound, though not by the content of the addresses; others were not disturbed by either. The court upheld the ordinance against the contention that it violated appellant’s rights of freedom of speech, assembly, and worship under the Federal Constitution. Fines and jail sentences were imposed. His convictions were affirmed without opinion by the…
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