John Marshall Harlan II

“ The Court answers that a citizen is entitled to rely on the statutory construction adopted by the state officials who are on the front line, administering the permit scheme. If these officials construe a vague statute unconstitutionally, the citizen may take them at their word, and act on the assumption that the statute is void. ”

“ The right to assemble peaceably to voice political protest is at least as basic as the right to exhibit a motion picture which may have some aesthetic value. Moreover, slow-moving procedures have a much more severe impact in the instant case than they had in Freedman. ”

“ Though a movie exhibitor might suffer some financial loss if he were obliged to wait for a year or two while the administrative and judicial mills ground out a result, it is nevertheless quite likely that the public would ultimately see the film. ”

“ While the 1964 City Code makes it clear that petitioner's permit application would have been considered out of time, see § 2-10, the 1944 Code, which was applicable in 1963, is not clear on this point.↑ Although Shuttlesworth could have petitioned for a writ of mandamus in the Alabama Circuit Court if the City Commission denied his application, that state court is not obliged to render a decision within any fixed period of time.↑ None of our past decisions have squarely considered whether parade licenses must be handled on an expedited basis. ”