Fowler v. Rhode Island

Jehovah's Witnesses, a religious sect, assembled in Slater Park of Pawtucket for a meeting which, at the trial, was conceded to be religious in character. About 400 people attended, 150 being Jehovah's Witnesses. Appellant is a minister of this sect, residing in Arlington, Mass. He was invited to Pawtucket as a visiting minister to give a talk before the Pawtucket congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. Appellant accepted the invitation, attended the meeting in the park, and addressed it over two loudspeakers. It was a quiet, orderly meeting, with no disturbances or breaches of the peace whatsoever. Appellant had been talking only a few minutes when he was arrested by the police and charged with violating the ordinance set forth above. He was tried and found guilty over objections that the ordinance, as so construed and applied, violated the First and the Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution. He was fined $5. His conviction was affirmed by the Rhode Island Supreme Court. 91 A.2d 27 . And see Fowler v. State, 83 A.2d 67 , an earlier opinion answering certified questions and holding the ordinance valid. The case is here on appeal. 28 U.S.C. § 1257(2).