The U.S. Supreme Court case Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., et al. v. Village of Stratton et al., 2001, revolved around a First Amendment challenge to an ordinance that required door-to-door canvassers to obtain a permit from the mayor's office before soliciting residents in the village of Stratton, Ohio. The plaintiffs were Jehovah’s Witnesses who argued that this requirement violated their First Amendment rights to free speech and freedom of religion as it impeded their practice of going door-to-door to discuss their faith and distribute literature. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs with an 8-1 decision stating that such regulation was unconstitutional because it amounted to prior restraint on free speech rights without sufficiently serving the interests claimed by the village - crime prevention and privacy protection.

In the dissenting opinion for Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., et al. v. Village of Stratton et al., Justice John Paul Stevens argued that the majority's decision to strike down a local ordinance requiring door-to-door solicitors to obtain a permit was misguided. He contended that the law did not infringe upon First Amendment rights as it applied equally to all groups, religious or otherwise, and served legitimate government interests in protecting residents' privacy and preventing fraud. Furthermore, he noted that obtaining a permit was not an overly burdensome process nor did it stifle free speech since no one was denied permits based on their message content. Therefore, he believed this regulation should have been upheld as constitutional because it reasonably balanced individual freedoms with community safety needs.