Jamison v. Texas
Headline: Religious street leafleting protected: Court reverses Dallas conviction and blocks a city ordinance that banned handing out religious leaflets mentioning books or solicitations, protecting public street distribution.
Holding:
- Stops cities from broadly banning religious leaflets on public sidewalks.
- Protects groups that mention books or request donations while distributing literature.
- Reverses conviction and prevents fines for peaceful street distribution.
Summary
Background
A woman who was a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses was arrested in Dallas for handing out religious handbills on public sidewalks. She calmly gave pedestrians a two-sided flyer inviting them to a religious meeting and describing two books about the group, offering to mail the books for a 25¢ contribution. She was convicted in local courts, fined $5, and, because Texas law allowed no further state appeal, she brought federal questions to this Court.
Reasoning
The Court addressed whether a city ordinance that broadly banned scattering or holding handbills on streets could prohibit the appellant’s peaceful religious distribution. The City argued it could bar such leafleting because it controlled the streets and because the flyers mentioned books and a requested contribution. The Court rejected both arguments, holding that people on public streets keep their constitutional right to communicate ideas by handbills and that the presence of a religious book notice or a lawful request for support does not turn the leaflets into a bannable commercial paper.
Real world impact
The decision frees religious speakers to use public sidewalks for orderly distribution of literature even when the material mentions books or asks for contributions. It reverses the appellant’s conviction and limits how cities may enforce broad bans on leaflets. Municipalities remain able to regulate time, place, and manner for safety, but they may not broadly prohibit peaceful religious handbilling.
Dissents or concurrances
Justice Frankfurter agreed with the result but noted his view that an older jurisdictional case was wrongly decided; Justice Rutledge did not participate.
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