Legal Question in Constitutional Law in Massachusetts
In Prince v. Massachusetts (1944) a Jehovah's Witness woman violated the law by allowing her 9-year-old ward to distribute pamphlets and receive voluntary contributions along with her. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the state, saying that the state had a compelling interest to prevent child labor.
My question is this: If this woman is unable to allow her ward to distribute pamphlets with her under freedom of religious exercise, where do Girl Scouts come in? They have no argument of freedom of religion but they are still making the rounds selling yummy, yummy cookies. Unlike the child in the court case the Girl Scouts are actually making money, rather than soliciting donations. Wouldn't the Girl Scouts more likely fall under the role of child labor than the Jehovah's Witness child? What gives the Girl Scouts the right to go door-to-door and not the child in the court case?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Prince doesn't forbid children to work. It just says states are allowed to enact laws which limit the types and amounts of work children can do.
To my knowledge there are no laws which forbid children to sell cookies door-to-door. The states could enact such laws if they wanted to, but I don't believe any have done so. But back in the 1940s there was a Massachusetts law which said children could not sell magazines on public streets. The decision in Prince said only that states have the right to pass and enforce such laws.
So the difference is that, unlike the Girl Scouts, the children in Prince did something forbidden by statute.
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