Prince v. Massachusetts

Background

A woman who was the aunt and guardian of a nine-year-old girl took the child with her to hand out and offer religious magazines on a street corner. Massachusetts convicted the guardian under state child labor laws that forbid boys under 12 and girls under 18 from selling or offering goods in public places, and fined her for furnishing and permitting the child to engage in that activity.

Reasoning

The high court was asked whether applying the child labor law here violated religious freedom or parental rights. The Court explained that the state has a strong interest in protecting children and may regulate children’s public work more strictly than adults’ similar activities. It held the law could be applied even when the street activity was religious and even though the child was with her guardian, because the state’s power to protect youth outweighed the claimed religious and parental liberties in this context.

Real world impact

The decision means states may enforce child labor rules to stop children from publicly selling or distributing religious literature, and parents or guardians can be penalized for permitting such activity. The ruling leaves other forms of religious training and indoor worship untouched, but it affirms that public street preaching by minors can be limited for child-welfare reasons.

Dissents or concurrances

Several Justices disagreed. One dissent said the child’s street evangelism was a protected religious practice and the state failed to prove any grave danger, so punishment was improper; another warned the ruling could allow broad state control over children’s religious activity.