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What is the significance of the legal case LARGENT v.
STATE OF TEXAS?
Largent v.
State of Texas was a landmark First Amendment case decided by the Supreme Court in 1943.
The case challenged a Texas law that prohibited the sale of magazines and other publications on public streets without a permit.
The plaintiff, Largent, was a Jehovah's Witness who was convicted under this law for selling a religious magazine on a public street in Texas.
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Largent, holding that the Texas law was an unconstitutional restriction on freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
The Court found that the law was overly broad and did not leave open adequate alternative channels for Largent to distribute his publication.
The decision established that the government cannot impose content-based restrictions on the distribution of publications in public forums without a compelling justification.
The case was a significant victory for the Jehovah's Witnesses, who had faced numerous legal challenges to their door-to-door evangelism and distribution of religious materials.
The Largent decision built upon the Court's earlier rulings in cases like Lovell v.
City of Griffin (1938) and Schneider v.
State (1939), which had struck down similar restrictions on distributing handbills and other publications.
The case was argued before the Supreme Court by Hayden C.
Covington, a prominent Jehovah's Witness lawyer who played a key role in many of the religion's legal battles during this period.
The Court's opinion, written by Justice Hugo Black, emphasized the importance of preserving free speech rights even for unpopular or minority viewpoints.
Largent v.
State of Texas was one of several Supreme Court cases in the 1940s that helped establish the Jehovah's Witnesses as leading defenders of First Amendment freedoms.
The decision was a significant precedent that influenced the Court's later rulings on related issues, such as the right to distribute religious literature on public property.
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