Presser v. Illinois

Summary

The Court affirmed Presser's conviction under Illinois law for leading an unauthorized armed military organization in a parade. It held that the challenged provisions were separable from any potentially invalid portions of the Military Code, did not conflict with federal militia legislation, and violated neither the Second Amendment nor the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court also rejected the due-process and ex-post-facto objections as untenable and declined to decide nonfederal questions concerning the state corporation law and the statutory licensing exception.