http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1939/ U.S. Supreme Court Cases, presented by The Oyez Project (www.oyez.org) en-us <p>Jesse Cantwell and his son were Jehovah's Witnesses; they were proselytizing a predominantly Catholic neighborhood in Connecticut. The Cantwells distributed religious materials by travelling door-to-door and by approaching people on the street. After voluntarily hearing an anti-Roman Catholic message on the Cantwells' portable phonograph, two pedestrians reacted angrily. The Cantwells were subsequently arrested for violating a local ordinance requiring a permit for solicitation and for inciting a breach of the peace.</p> http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1939/1939_632/ <p>Lillian and William Gobitis were expelled from the public schools of Minersville, Pennsylvania, for refusing to salute the flag as part of a daily school exercise. The Gobitis children were Jehovah's Witnesses; they believed that such a gesture of respect for the flag was forbidden by Biblical commands.</p> http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1939/1939_690/ <p>Byron Thornhill joined a picket line that was protesting against his former employer. Section 3448 of Alabama state law made it an offense to picket. Pursuant to the law, Thornhill was arrested and fined $100. Thornhill, a union president, was the only picketer to be arrested and tried under the law.</p> http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1939/1939_514/