Lovell v. City of Griffin, 303 U.S. 444 (1938)

Address

https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/303/444

Kind

court record

Last checked

2026-09-26

Archived copy

none yet

Cited by

• United States: Supreme Court strikes down a Georgia city's permit requirement for distributing literature, 1938
• Claim 899: The Supreme Court heard argument in Lovell's case on February 4, 1938, and decided it on March 28, 1938.
• Claim 900: Alma Lovell was convicted in the Griffin, Georgia recorder's court and sentenced to fifty days in jail in default of a $50 fine for distributing literature without a permit.
• Claim 901: Griffin's ordinance made it a punishable nuisance to distribute literature of any kind in the city without first obtaining written permission from the city manager.
• Claim 902: Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes wrote that "its character is such that it strikes at the very foundation of the freedom of the press by subjecting it to license and censorship."
• Claim 903: The Supreme Court reversed Lovell's conviction and sent the case back for further proceedings.
• Claim 905: Lovell was convicted for distributing a pamphlet and a magazine called the Golden Age.

The link-check history of this source is in the JSON version of this page.