CONSTITUTIONAL LAW-DUE PROCESS-FREEDOM OF SPEECH-LIMITATIONS ON THE Used OF SOUND AMPLIFICATION DEVICES

Appellant, a minister of Jehovah's Witnesses, used, without a permit, sound equipment mounted on his truck to amplify lectures on religious subjects. He was convicted in a police court for violating a municipal ordinance of Lockport, New York. which prohibited the use of sound amplification devices without the permission of the chief of police. The ordinance provided no standards for the guidance of the local officer in the issuance of the permit. The conviction was affirmed by the county court and by the appellate court.

On appeal, held, reversed, four justices dissenting. The ordinance violated the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by establishing a previous restraint on the right of free speech. Saia v. New York, 334 U.S. 558, 68 S.Ct. 1148 (1948).