Supreme Court of the United States, “Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158 (1944)”
“Parents may be free to become martyrs themselves. But it does not follow they are free, in identical circumstances, to make martyrs of their children before they have reached the age of full and legal discretion when they can make that choice for themselves.”
A child-labour / street literature distribution case involving a Witness aunt and her nine-year-old ward — not a transfusion case, though often cited in transfusion litigation.
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Provenance and verification note for Supreme Court of the United States, Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158 (1944)
Confidence note. Quotation confirmed at Cornell LII; the page pin (321 U.S. at 170) is from the U.S. Reports citation and is not visible on the page opened.
Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-scotus-1944-prince