United States v. Schwimmer

United States v. Schwimmer
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 12, 1929 Decided May 27, 1929
Full case name	United States v. Rosika Schwimmer
Citations	279 U.S. 644 (more) 49 S. Ct. 448; 73 L. Ed. 889; 1929 U.S. LEXIS 64
Holding
Pacifists are liable to be incapable of the attachment for and devotion to the principles of the U.S. Constitution that is required of aliens seeking naturalization.
Court membership
Chief Justice William H. Taft Associate Justices Oliver W. Holmes Jr. · Willis Van Devanter James C. McReynolds · Louis Brandeis George Sutherland · Pierce Butler Edward T. Sanford · Harlan F. Stone
Case opinions
Majority	Butler, joined by Taft, Van Devanter, McReynolds, Sutherland, Stone
Dissent	Holmes, joined by Brandeis
Dissent	Sanford
Laws applied
Naturalization Act of 1906
Overruled by
Girouard v. United States (1946)

United States v. Schwimmer, 279 U.S. 644 (1929), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. It concerned a pacifist applicant for naturalization who in the interview declared not to be willing to "take up arms personally" in defense of the United States. Originally found unable by the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to take the prescribed oath of allegiance, a decision reversed in appeal, the case was argued before the Supreme Court, which ruled against the applicant, and thus denied her the possibility of becoming a United States citizen.