United States v. Ballard (322 U.S. 78)

United States v. Ballard (322 U.S. 78)
by William O. Douglas

Syllabus

United States v. Ballard, 322 U.S. 78 (1944), was an appeal of the conviction of two leaders of the new religious "I AM" Activity movement for fraudulently seeking and collecting donations on the basis of religious claims that the defendants themselves did not believe. The United States Supreme Court held that the question of whether the defendants believed their religious claims should not have been submitted to a jury. The Court arrived at this conclusion in part because the "freedom of religious belief... embraces the right to maintain theories of life and of death and of the hereafter which are rank heresy to followers of the orthodox faiths." Warning: template has been deprecated.

898081United States v. Ballard (322 U.S. 78) — SyllabusWilliam O. Douglas

Court Documents

Opinion of the Court

Dissenting Opinions: Stone; Jackson

United States Supreme Court

322 U.S. 78

United States v. Ballard (322 U.S. 78)

Argued: March 3 and 6, 1944. --- Decided: April 24, 1944

Mr. Charles Fahy, Sol. Gen., of Washington, D.C., for petitioner.

Messrs. Roland Rich Woolley and Joseph F. Rank, both of Los Angeles, Cal., for respondents.

Mr. Justice DOUGLAS delivered the opinion of the Court.

Notes[edit]

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States federal government (see 17 U.S.C. 105).

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United States v. Ballard (322 U.S. 78)

Notes[edit]

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