AP Success - AP U.S. Gov & Pol: Concept Application: First Amendment and Selective Incorporation in Cantwell v. Connecticut.

In the 1930s, Connecticut passed a consumer protection law stating that door-to-door solicitors had to obtain a state-issued certificate. Connecticut resident Newton Cantwell was a Jehovah’s Witness who promoted his faith by knocking on doors in his New Haven neighborhood. Authorities arrested Cantwell and his two sons for playing a phonograph record with a message criticizing the Catholic Church.  

Connecticut charged Cantwell and his sons with violating the state’s consumer protection law and disturbing the peace. The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled against Cantwell, and after appeal, the case went to the Supreme Court as Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940).

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protected Cantwell’s actions. The decision also struck down state laws similar to the Connecticut one.