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Mills v. Alabama, 384 U.S. 214 (1966)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Mills v. Alabama, 384 U.S. 214 (1966)
Mills v. Alabama No. 597 Argued April 19, 1966 Decided May 23, 1966 384 U.S. 214
APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA
Syllabus
Appellant, a Birmingham, Alabama, newspaper editor, was arrested on a complaint of violating § 285 of the Alabama Corrupt Practices Act by writing and publishing on election day an editorial urging adoption in that election of the mayor-council form of government. Section 285 proscribes electioneering or soliciting votes on election day for or against any proposition or candidate involved in the election. The trial court sustained demurrers on the grounds that the statute violated state and federal free speech guarantees. The Alabama Supreme Court, holding the statutory election-day restriction reasonable or "within the field of reasonableness," reversed and remanded the case for trial.
Held:
1. This Court has jurisdiction over the appeal. Notwithstanding the remand of the case, the Alabama Supreme Court’s judgment was "final" within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1257, because appellant’s conviction in any subsequent trial is inevitable in view of that court’s ruling that the Alabama statute is constitutional and appellant’s concession that he wrote and published the editorial. Pp. 217-218.
2. A state statute making it a crime for a newspaper editor to publish an editorial on election day urging people to vote in a particular way flagrantly violates the First Amendment, applied to the States by the Fourteenth, a major purpose of which was to protect free discussion of governmental affairs. Pp. 218-220.
278 Ala. 188, 176 So.2d 884, reversed and remanded.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Mills v. Alabama, 384 U.S. 214 (1966) in 384 U.S. 214 384 U.S. 215. Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=NC1WXWALQGC8QTA.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Mills v. Alabama, 384 U.S. 214 (1966), in 384 U.S. 214, page 384 U.S. 215. Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=NC1WXWALQGC8QTA.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Mills v. Alabama, 384 U.S. 214 (1966). cited in 1966, 384 U.S. 214, pp.384 U.S. 215. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=NC1WXWALQGC8QTA.
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