Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/312/569/
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 20:15:45+00:00

Document:
1. Civil liberties, as guaranteed by the Constitution, imply the existence of an organized society maintaining public order, without which liberty itself would be lost in the excesses of unrestrained abuses. P. 312 U. S. 574.
2. The authority of a municipality to impose regulations in order to assure the safety and convenience of the people in the use of public highways has never been regarded as inconsistent with civil liberties, but rather as one of the means of safeguarding the good order upon which they ultimately depend. P. 312 U. S. 574.
3. As regulation of the use of the streets for parades and processions is a traditional exercise of control by local government, the question in a particular case is whether that control is exerted so as not to deny or unwarrantedly abridge the right of assembly and the opportunities for the communication of thought and the discussion of public questions immemorially associated with resort to public places. P. 312 U. S. 574.
4. A state law providing that no parade or procession upon any public street shall be permitted unless a special license therefor shall first be obtained from the selectmen of the town, or from a licensing committee for the city, and subjecting any violator to a fine, held constitutional, in view of its construction by the state supreme court, as applied to members of the band of "Jehovah's Witnesses," who marched in groups of from fifteen to twenty members each, in close single files, along the sidewalks in the business district of a populous city, each marcher carrying a sign or placard with "informational" inscriptions. P. 312 U. S. 575.
5. In exercise of its power to license parades on city streets, the State may charge a license fee reasonably adjusted to the occasion, for meeting administrative and police expenses. P. 312 U. S. 576.
91 N.H. 137; 16 A.2d 508, affirmed.
APPEAL from the affirmance of judgments imposing fines on violators of a state law regulating parades in city streets.
procession" upon a public street without a special license.
Upon appeal, there was a trial de novo of these appellants before a jury in the Superior Court, the other defendants having agreed to abide by the final decision in that proceeding. Appellants were found guilty, and the judgment of conviction was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the State. State v. Cox, 91 N.H. 137; 16 A.2d 508.
By motions and exceptions, appellants raised the questions that the statute was invalid under the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States in that it deprived appellants of their rights of freedom of worship, freedom of speech and press, and freedom of assembly, vested unreasonable and unlimited arbitrary and discriminatory powers in the licensing authority, and was vague and indefinite. These contentions were overruled, and the case comes here on appeal.
"No theatrical or dramatic representation shall be performed or exhibited, and no parade or procession upon any public street or way, and no open-air public meeting upon any ground abutting thereon, shall be permitted, unless a special license therefor shall first be obtained from the selectmen of the town, or from a licensing committee for cities hereinafter provided for."
The facts, which are conceded by the appellants to be established by the evidence, are these: The sixty-eight defendants and twenty other persons met at a hall in the City of Manchester on the evening of Saturday, July 8, 1939, "for the purpose of engaging in an information march." The company was divided into four or five groups, each with about fifteen to twenty persons. Each group then proceeded to a different part of the business district of the city, and there "would line up in single-file formation and then proceed to march along the sidewalk, single-file,' that is, following one another." Each of the defendants carried a small staff with a sign reading "Religion is a Snare and a Racket," and, on the reverse, "Serve God and Christ the King." Some of the marchers carried placards bearing the statement "Fascism or Freedom. Hear Judge Rutherford and Face the Facts." The marchers also handed out printed leaflets announcing a meeting to be held at a later time in the hall from which they had started, where a talk on government would be given to the public free of charge. Defendants did not apply for a permit, and none was issued.
"Manchester had a population of over 75,000 in 1930, and there was testimony that, on Saturday nights in an hour's time. 26,000 persons passed one of the intersections where the defendants marched. The marchers interfered with the normal sidewalk travel, but no technical breach of the peace occurred. The march was a prearranged affair, and no permit for it was sought, although the defendants understood that, under the statute, one was required."
Appellants urge that each of the defendants was a minister ordained to preach the gospel in accordance with his belief, and that the participation of these ministers in the march was for the purpose of disseminating information in the public interest, and was one of their ways of worship.
The sole charge against appellants was that they were "taking part in a parade or procession" on public streets without a permit as the statute required. Thy were not prosecuted for distributing leaflets, or for conveying information by placards or otherwise, or for issuing invitations to a public meeting, or for holding a public meeting, or for maintaining or expressing religious beliefs. Their right to do any one of these things, apart from engaging in a "parade or procession" upon a public street, is not here involved, and the question of the validity of a statute addressed to any other sort of conduct than that complained of is not before us.
"It was a march in formation, and its advertising and informatory purpose did not make it otherwise. . . . It is immaterial that its tactics were few and simple. It is enough that it proceeded in an ordered and close file as a collective body of persons on the city streets."
307 U. S. 496, 307 U. S. 515, 307 U. S. 516; Schneider v. State, 308 U. S. 147, 308 U. S. 160; Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U. S. 296, 310 U. S. 306, 310 U. S. 307.
"signs carried by members of the groups not in marching formation would have been as conspicuous, as published by them while in parade or procession."
"to prevent confusion by overlapping parades or processions, to secure convenient use of the streets by other travelers, and to minimize the risk of disorder."
"uniformity of method of treatment upon the facts of each application, free from improper or inappropriate considerations and from unfair discrimination;"
"systematic, consistent and just order of treatment, with reference to the convenience of public use of the highways, is the statutory mandate."
"had a right, under the Act, to a license to march when, where, and as they did if, after a required investigation, it was found that the convenience of the public in the use of the streets would not thereby be unduly disturbed, upon such conditions or changes in time, place and manner as would avoid disturbance."
"for a circus parade or a celebration procession of length, each drawing crowds of observers, would take into account the greater public expense of policing the spectacle compared with the slight expense of a less expansive and attractive parade or procession, to which the charge would be adjusted."
"not a revenue tax, but one to meet the expense incident to the administration of the Act and to the maintenance of public order in the matter licensed."
There is nothing contrary to the Constitution in the charge of a fee limited to the purpose stated. The suggestion that a flat fee should have been charged fails to take account of the difficulty of framing a fair schedule to meet all circumstances, and we perceive no constitutional ground for denying to local governments that flexibility of adjustment of fees which, in the light of varying conditions, would tend to conserve, rather than impair, the liberty sought.
"uncontrolled official suppression of the privilege cannot be made a substitute for the duty to maintain order in connection with the exercise of the right."
In Schneider v. State, supra, (p. 308 U. S. 163) the ordinance was directed at canvassing, and banned unlicensed communication of any views, or the advocacy of any cause, from door to door, subject only to the power of a police officer to determine as a censor what literature might be distributed and who might distribute it. In Cantwell v. Connecticut, supra, (p. 310 U. S. 305) the statute dealt with the solicitation of funds for religious causes, and authorized an official to determine whether the cause was a religious one and to refuse a permit if he determined it was not, thus establishing a censorship of religion.
Nor is any question of peaceful picketing here involved, as in Thornhill v. Alabama, 310 U. S. 88, and Carlson v. California, 310 U. S. 106. The statute, as the state court said, is not aimed at any restraint of freedom of speech, and there is no basis for an assumption that it would be applied so as to prevent peaceful picketing as described in the cases cited.
"Section 3: Licensing Board. Any city may create a licensing board to consist of the person who is the active head of the police department, the mayor of such city and one other person who shall be appointed by the city government, which board shall have delegated powers to investigate and decide the question of granting licenses under this chapter, and it may grant revocable blanket licenses to fraternal and other like organizations, to theatres and to undertakers."
"Section 4: Licenses: Fees. Every such special license shall be in writing, and shall specify the day and hour of the permit to perform or exhibit or of such parade, procession or open-air public meeting. Every licensee shall pay in advance for such license, for the use of the city or town, a sum not more than three hundred dollars for each day such licensee shall perform or exhibit, or such parade, procession or open-air public meeting shall take place; but the fee for a license to exhibit in any hall shall not exceed fifty dollars."
"Section 5: Penalty. If any person shall violate the provisions of the preceding sections he shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, and it shall be the duty of the selectmen to prosecute for every violation of this chapter."

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