Cantwell v. Connecticut

Cantwell v. Connecticut
Argued March 29, 1940
Decided May 20, 1940
Full case nameNewton Cantwell, et al. v. State of Connecticut
Citations310 U.S. 296 (more)
60 S. Ct. 900; 84 L. Ed. 1213; 1940 U.S. LEXIS 591; 128 A.L.R. 1352
Case history
Prior126 Conn. 1, 8 A.2d 533; cert. granted, 309 U.S. 626 (1940).
SubsequentNone
Holding
The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment is incorporated against the states by the Fourteenth Amendment.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Charles E. Hughes
Associate Justices
James C. McReynolds · Harlan F. Stone
Owen Roberts · Hugo Black
Stanley F. Reed · Felix Frankfurter
William O. Douglas · Frank Murphy
Case opinion
MajorityRoberts, joined by unanimous
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amends. I, XIV

Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940), is a landmark court decision[1][2] by the United States Supreme Court holding that the First Amendment's federal protection of religious free exercise incorporates via the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and so applies to state governments too.[3]

This decision has been described by legal scholars as one of the pivotal religious liberty cases decided between 1938 and 1946 that strengthened the First Amendment protection of religious liberty and "ushered in a new era of personal liberty protections for all Americans."[4]

  1. ^ John R. Vile. "Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)". The First Amendment Encyclopedia presented by the John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies. Archived from the original on July 29, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  2. ^ "Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)". Archived from the original on October 30, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  3. ^ Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940).  This article incorporates public domain material from judicial opinions or other documents created by the federal judiciary of the United States.
  4. ^ "Episode 16 of the Constitutional podcast: 'The First Amendment' - The Washington Post". The Washington Post. January 30, 2018. Archived from the original on January 30, 2018. Retrieved January 24, 2024.

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