Jones v. City of Opelika (1942)

Jones v. City of Opelika
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided June 8, 1942
Full case name	Jones v. City of Opelika, Bowden et al. v. City of Fort Smith, Ark. Jobin v. State of Arizona
Citations	316 U.S. 584 (more)
Court membership
Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone Associate Justices Owen J. Roberts · Hugo Black Stanley F. Reed · Felix Frankfurter William O. Douglas · Frank Murphy James F. Byrnes · Robert H. Jackson
Case opinions
Majority	Reed, joined by Roberts, Frankfurter, Byrnes, Jackson
Dissent	Stone, joined by Murphy, Black, Douglas
Dissent	Murphy, joined by Stone, Black, Douglas
Overruled by
Jones v. City of Opelika (1943)

Jones v. City of Opelika, 316 U.S. 584 (1942), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that a statute prohibiting the sale of books without a license was constitutional because it only covered individuals engaged in a commercial activity rather than a religious ritual.

Facts of the case

The city of Opelika, Alabama charged Jones with violating a statute by selling books without a license. All licenses were subject to immediate revocation by the city without requiring advance notice. Jones, a Jehovah's Witness alleged that this violated his rights to both freedom of the press and freedom of religion.

Decision of the Court

Majority decision

Writing for the majority, Justice Reed wrote that individual rights must be balanced against competing rights of the state. He asserted that the fact that a person is engaged in disseminating religious materials does not place his action above regulation by the state. Reed wrote that, when people choose to utilize the vending of their religious books and tracts as a source of funds, the financial aspects of their transactions need not be wholly disregarded. To subject any religious or didactic group to a reasonable fee for their money-making activities does not require a finding that the licensed acts are purely commercial. It is enough that money is earned by the sale of articles. When traditional means of distribution are used by religious groups, they can be held to the same standards as non-religious groups. The court held that Jones had no standing to challenge that part of the statute because he did not have a license revoked arbitrarily by the state.

Dissenting opinions

The two dissenting opinions, by Chief Justice Harlan Stone and Justice Frank Murphy, examined both the unlimited discretion of the authorities in Opelika to withdraw a license as well as the amount of fees charged in order to get a license. The majority had considered the amount of fees ($25.00 annually in some cases or $2.50 per day in others) irrelevant because the issue had not been argued below, but the dissenters thought this amount was relevant.

Effects of the decision

This decision forced religious groups to meet the same requirements as non-religious groups engaged in a similar activity. The fact that they were selling religious materials did not exempt them from statutes regulating commercial acts.

Subsequent history

In the one paragraph Jones v. City of Opelika (II) per curiam decision (319 US 103), the Court vacated Jones v. City of Opelika (1942) on the basis of the principles articulated in Murdock v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Jones v. Opelika, 319 U.S. 103 (1943), was a Jehovah's Witnesses case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that on rehearing Jones v. City of Opelika (1942) is vacated; a state may not prohibit distribution of religious handbills where handbills seek to raise funds in a lawful fashion.

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 316