Mr. Justice Whittaker
delivered the opinion of the Court.
Appellant, Rose Staub, was convicted in the Mayor’s Court of the City of Baxley, Georgia, of violation of a city ordinance and was sentenced to imprisonment for 30 days or to pay a fine of $300. The Superior Court of the county affirmed the judgment of conviction; the Court of Appeals of the State affirmed the judgment of the Superior Court, 94 Ga. App. 18, 93 S. E. 2d 375; and the Supreme Court of the State denied an application for certiorari. The case comes here on appeal.
The ordinance in question is set forth in the margin.1 Its violation, which is not denied, arose from the follow[315]*315ing undisputed facts shown at the trial: Appellant was a salaried employee of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union which was attempting to organize the employees of a manufacturing company located in the nearby town of Hazelhurst. A number of those employees lived in Baxley. On February 19,1954, appellant and one Mamie Merritt, also a salaried employee of the union, went to Baxley and, without applying for permits required under the ordinance, talked with several of the employees at their homes about joining the union. While in a restaurant in Baxley on that day they were sought out and questioned by the Chief of Police concerning their activities in Baxley, and appellant told him that they were “going around talking to some of the women to organize the factory workers . . . and hold [ing] meetings with them for that purpose.” Later [316]*316that day a meeting was held at the home of one of the employees, attended by three other employees, at which, in the words of the hostess, appellant “just told us they wanted us to join the union, and said it would be a good thing for us to do . . . and went on to tell us how this union would help us.” Appellant told those present that the membership dues would be 64 cents per week but would not be payable until the employees were organized. No money was asked or received from the persons at the meeting, but they were invited “to get other girls . . . there to join the union” and blank membership cards were offered for that use. Appellant further explained that the immediate objective was to “have enough cards signed to petition for an election . . . with the Labor Board.” 2
On the same day a summons was issued and served by the Chief of Police commanding appellant to appear [317]*317before the Mayor’s Court three days later to answer “to the offense of Soliciting Members for an Organization without a Permit & License.”
Before the trial, appellant moved to abate the action upon a number of grounds, among which were the contentions that the ordinance “shows on its face that it is repugnant to and violative of the 1st and 14th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States in that it places a condition precedent upon, and otherwise unlawfully restricts, the defendant’s freedom of speech as well as freedom of the press and freedom of lawful assembly” by requiring, as conditions precedent to the exercise of those rights, the issuance of a “license” which the Mayor and city council are authorized by the ordinance to grant or refuse in their discretion, and the payment of a “license fee” which is discriminatory and unreasonable in amount and constitutes a prohibitory flat tax upon the privilege of soliciting persons to join a labor union. These contentions were overruled by the Mayor’s Court and, after a continuance,3 the case was tried and appellant was convicted and sentenced as stated.4 The same contentions were made in the Superior Court where the city answered, denying “that the ordinance is invalid or void for any of the reasons stated” by appellant, and, after a hearing, that court affirmed the judgment of conviction.
[318]*318Those contentions were renewed in the Court of Appeals but that court declined "to consider them. It stated that “[t]he attack should have been made against specific sections of the ordinance and not against the ordinance as a whole”; that “[hjaving made no effort to secure a license, the defendant is in no position to claim that any section of the ordinance is invalid or unconstitutional” ; and that since it “appears that the attack was not made against any particular section of the ordinance as being void or unconstitutional, and that the defendant has made no effort to comply with any section of the ordinance ... it is not necessary to pass upon the sufficiency of the evidence, the constitutionality of the ordinance, or any other phase of the case . . . .” The court then held that “[t]he trial court did not err in overruling the writ of certiorari” and affirmed the judgment of conviction. 94 Ga. App., at 24, 93 S. E. 2d, at 378-379.
At the threshold, appellee urges that this appeal be dismissed because, it argues, the decision of the Court of Appeals was based upon state procedural grounds and thus rests upon an adequate nonfederal basis, and that we are therefore without jurisdiction to entertain it. Hence, the question is whether that basis was an adequate one in the circumstances of this case. “Whether a pleading sets up a sufficient right of action or defense, grounded on the Constitution or a law of the United States, is necessarily a question of federal law; and where a case coming from a state court presents that question, this Court must determine for itself the sufficiency of the allegations displaying the right or defense, and is not concluded by the view taken of them by the state court.” First National Bank v. Anderson, 269 U. S. 341, 346, and cases cited. See also Schuylkill Trust Co. v. Pennsylvania, 296 U. S. 113, 122-123, and Lovell v. Griffin, 303 U. S. 444, 450. As Mr. Justice Holmes said in Davis v. Wechsler, 263 U. S. 22, 24, “Whatever springes the State may set [319]*319for those who are endeavoring to assert rights that the State confers, the assertion of federal rights, when plainly and reasonably made, is not to be defeated under the name of local practice.” Whether the constitutional rights asserted by the appellant were “. . . given due recognition by the [Court of Appeals] is a question as to which the [appellant is] entitled to invoke our judgment, and this [she has] done in the appropriate way. It therefore is within our province to inquire not only whether the right was denied in express terms, but also whether it was denied in substance and effect, as by putting forward non-federal grounds of decision that were without any fair or substantial support . . . [for] if non-federal grounds, plainly untenable, may be thus put forward successfully, our power to review easily may be avoided.” Ward v. Love County, 253 U. S. 17, 22, and cases cited.
The first of the nonfederal grounds relied on by appellee, and upon which the decision of the Court of Appeals rests, is that appellant lacked standing to attack the constitutionality of the ordinance because she made no attempt to secure a permit under it. This is not an adequate nonfederal ground of decision. The decisions of this Court have uniformly held that the failure to apply for a license under an ordinance which on its face violates the Constitution does not preclude review in this Court of a judgment of conviction under such an ordinance. Smith v. Cahoon, 283 U. S. 553, 562;
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Mr. Justice Whittaker
delivered the opinion of the Court.
Appellant, Rose Staub, was convicted in the Mayor’s Court of the City of Baxley, Georgia, of violation of a city ordinance and was sentenced to imprisonment for 30 days or to pay a fine of $300. The Superior Court of the county affirmed the judgment of conviction; the Court of Appeals of the State affirmed the judgment of the Superior Court, 94 Ga. App. 18, 93 S. E. 2d 375; and the Supreme Court of the State denied an application for certiorari. The case comes here on appeal.
The ordinance in question is set forth in the margin.1 Its violation, which is not denied, arose from the follow[315]*315ing undisputed facts shown at the trial: Appellant was a salaried employee of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union which was attempting to organize the employees of a manufacturing company located in the nearby town of Hazelhurst. A number of those employees lived in Baxley. On February 19,1954, appellant and one Mamie Merritt, also a salaried employee of the union, went to Baxley and, without applying for permits required under the ordinance, talked with several of the employees at their homes about joining the union. While in a restaurant in Baxley on that day they were sought out and questioned by the Chief of Police concerning their activities in Baxley, and appellant told him that they were “going around talking to some of the women to organize the factory workers . . . and hold [ing] meetings with them for that purpose.” Later [316]*316that day a meeting was held at the home of one of the employees, attended by three other employees, at which, in the words of the hostess, appellant “just told us they wanted us to join the union, and said it would be a good thing for us to do . . . and went on to tell us how this union would help us.” Appellant told those present that the membership dues would be 64 cents per week but would not be payable until the employees were organized. No money was asked or received from the persons at the meeting, but they were invited “to get other girls . . . there to join the union” and blank membership cards were offered for that use. Appellant further explained that the immediate objective was to “have enough cards signed to petition for an election . . . with the Labor Board.” 2
On the same day a summons was issued and served by the Chief of Police commanding appellant to appear [317]*317before the Mayor’s Court three days later to answer “to the offense of Soliciting Members for an Organization without a Permit & License.”
Before the trial, appellant moved to abate the action upon a number of grounds, among which were the contentions that the ordinance “shows on its face that it is repugnant to and violative of the 1st and 14th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States in that it places a condition precedent upon, and otherwise unlawfully restricts, the defendant’s freedom of speech as well as freedom of the press and freedom of lawful assembly” by requiring, as conditions precedent to the exercise of those rights, the issuance of a “license” which the Mayor and city council are authorized by the ordinance to grant or refuse in their discretion, and the payment of a “license fee” which is discriminatory and unreasonable in amount and constitutes a prohibitory flat tax upon the privilege of soliciting persons to join a labor union. These contentions were overruled by the Mayor’s Court and, after a continuance,3 the case was tried and appellant was convicted and sentenced as stated.4 The same contentions were made in the Superior Court where the city answered, denying “that the ordinance is invalid or void for any of the reasons stated” by appellant, and, after a hearing, that court affirmed the judgment of conviction.
[318]*318Those contentions were renewed in the Court of Appeals but that court declined "to consider them. It stated that “[t]he attack should have been made against specific sections of the ordinance and not against the ordinance as a whole”; that “[hjaving made no effort to secure a license, the defendant is in no position to claim that any section of the ordinance is invalid or unconstitutional” ; and that since it “appears that the attack was not made against any particular section of the ordinance as being void or unconstitutional, and that the defendant has made no effort to comply with any section of the ordinance ... it is not necessary to pass upon the sufficiency of the evidence, the constitutionality of the ordinance, or any other phase of the case . . . .” The court then held that “[t]he trial court did not err in overruling the writ of certiorari” and affirmed the judgment of conviction. 94 Ga. App., at 24, 93 S. E. 2d, at 378-379.
At the threshold, appellee urges that this appeal be dismissed because, it argues, the decision of the Court of Appeals was based upon state procedural grounds and thus rests upon an adequate nonfederal basis, and that we are therefore without jurisdiction to entertain it. Hence, the question is whether that basis was an adequate one in the circumstances of this case. “Whether a pleading sets up a sufficient right of action or defense, grounded on the Constitution or a law of the United States, is necessarily a question of federal law; and where a case coming from a state court presents that question, this Court must determine for itself the sufficiency of the allegations displaying the right or defense, and is not concluded by the view taken of them by the state court.” First National Bank v. Anderson, 269 U. S. 341, 346, and cases cited. See also Schuylkill Trust Co. v. Pennsylvania, 296 U. S. 113, 122-123, and Lovell v. Griffin, 303 U. S. 444, 450. As Mr. Justice Holmes said in Davis v. Wechsler, 263 U. S. 22, 24, “Whatever springes the State may set [319]*319for those who are endeavoring to assert rights that the State confers, the assertion of federal rights, when plainly and reasonably made, is not to be defeated under the name of local practice.” Whether the constitutional rights asserted by the appellant were “. . . given due recognition by the [Court of Appeals] is a question as to which the [appellant is] entitled to invoke our judgment, and this [she has] done in the appropriate way. It therefore is within our province to inquire not only whether the right was denied in express terms, but also whether it was denied in substance and effect, as by putting forward non-federal grounds of decision that were without any fair or substantial support . . . [for] if non-federal grounds, plainly untenable, may be thus put forward successfully, our power to review easily may be avoided.” Ward v. Love County, 253 U. S. 17, 22, and cases cited.
The first of the nonfederal grounds relied on by appellee, and upon which the decision of the Court of Appeals rests, is that appellant lacked standing to attack the constitutionality of the ordinance because she made no attempt to secure a permit under it. This is not an adequate nonfederal ground of decision. The decisions of this Court have uniformly held that the failure to apply for a license under an ordinance which on its face violates the Constitution does not preclude review in this Court of a judgment of conviction under such an ordinance. Smith v. Cahoon, 283 U. S. 553, 562; Lovell v. Griffin, 303 U. S. 444, 452. “The Constitution can hardly be thought to deny to one subjected to the restraints of such an ordinance the right to attack its constitutionality, because he has not yielded to its demands.” Jones v. Opelika, 316 U. S. 584, 602, dissenting opinion, adopted per curiam on rehearing, 319 U. S. 103, 104.
Appellee also contends that the holding of the Court of Appeals, that appellant’s failure to attack “specific sections” of the ordinance rendered it unnecessary, under [320]*320Georgia procedure, “to pass upon . . . the constitutionality of the ordinance, or any other phase of the case . . .,” constitutes an adequate “non-federal ground” to preclude review in this Court. We think this contention is “without any fair or substantial support” (Ward v. Love County, supra) and therefore does not present an adequate nonfederal ground of decision in the circumstances of this case. The several sections of the ordinance are interdependent in their application to one in appellant’s position and constitute but one complete act for the licensing and taxing of her described activities. For that reason, no doubt, she challenged the constitutionality of the whole ordinance, and in her objections used language challenging the constitutional effect of all its sections. She did, thus, challenge all sections of the ordinance, though not by number. To require her, in these circumstances, to count off, one by one, the several sections of the ordinance would be to force resort to an arid ritual of meaningless form. Indeed, the Supreme Court of Georgia seems to have recognized the arbitrariness of such exaltation of form. Only four years ago that court recognized that an attack on such a statute was sufficient if “the [statute] so challenged was invalid in every part for some reason alleged.” Flynn v. State, 209 Ga. 519, 522, 74 S. E. 2d 461, 464 (1953). In enunciating that rule the court was following a long line of its own decisions. Atlantic Loan Co. v. Peterson, 181 Ga. 266, 269, 182 S. E. 15, 16-17 (1935); Miller v. Head, 186 Ga. 694, 708, 198 S. E. 680, 687-688 (1938); Stegall v. Southwest Georgia Regional Housing Authority, 197 Ga. 571, 30 S. E. 2d 196 (1944); Krasner v. Rutledge, 204 Ga. 380, 383, 49 S. E. 2d 864, 866 (1948).
We conclude that the decision of the Court of Appeals does not rest on an adequate nonfederal ground and that we have jurisdiction of this appeal.
[321]*321The First Amendment of the Constitution provides: “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech . . . .” This freedom is among the fundamental personal rights and liberties which are protected by the Fourteenth Amendment from invasion by state action; and municipal ordinances adopted under state authority constitute state action. Lovell v. Griffin, supra, at 450, and cases cited.
This ordinance in its broad sweep makes it an offense to “solicit” citizens of the City of Baxley to become members of any “organization, union or society” which requires “fees [or] dues” from its members without first applying for and receiving from the Mayor and Council of the City a “permit” (Sections I and II) which they may grant or refuse to grant (Section V) after considering “the character of the applicant, the nature of the . . . organization for which members are desired to be solicited, and its effects upon the general welfare of [the] citizens of the City of Baxley” (Section IV).
Appellant’s first contention in this Court is that the ordinance is invalid on its face because it makes enjoyment of the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech contingent upon the will of the Mayor and Council of the City and thereby constitutes a prior restraint upon, and abridges, that freedom. Believing that appellant is right in that contention and that the judgment must be reversed for that reason, we confine our considerations to that particular question and do not reach other questions presented.
It will be noted that appellant was not accused of any act against the peace, good order or dignity of the community, nor for any particular thing she said in soliciting employees of the manufacturing company to join the union. She was simply charged and convicted for “soliciting members for an organization without a Per[322]*322mit.” This solicitation, as shown by the evidence, consisted solely of speaking to those employees in their private homes about joining the union.5
It will also be noted that the permit is not to be issued as a matter of course, but only upon the affirmative action of the Mayor and Council of the City. They are expressly authorized to refuse to grant the permit if they do not approve of the applicant or of the union or of the union’s “effects upon the general welfare of citizens of the City of Baxley.” These criteria are without semblance of definitive standards or other controlling guides governing the action of the Mayor and Council in granting or withholding a permit. Cf. Niemotko v. Maryland, 340 U. S. 268, 271-273. It is thus plain that they act in this respect in their uncontrolled discretion.
It is settled by a long line of recent decisions of this Court that an ordinance which, like this one, makes the peaceful enjoyment of freedoms which the Constitution guarantees contingent upon the uncontrolled will of an official — as by requiring a permit or license which may be granted or withheld in the discretion of such official — is an unconstitutional censorship or prior restraint upon the enjoyment of those freedoms.
In Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U. S. 296, this Court held invalid an Act which proscribed soliciting money or any valuable thing for “any alleged religious, charitable or philanthropic cause” unless the “cause” is approved by the secretary of the public welfare council of the state. Speaking for a unanimous Court, Mr. Justice Roberts said:
“It will be noted, however, that the Act requires an application to the secretary of the public welfare [323]*323council of the State; that he is empowered to determine whether the cause is a religious one, and that the issue of a certificate depends upon his affirmative action. If he finds that the cause is not that of religion, to solicit for it becomes a crime. He is not to issue a certificate as a matter of course. His decision to issue or refuse it involves appraisal of facts, the exercise of judgment, and the formation of an opinion. He is authorized to withhold his approval if he determines that the cause is not a religious one. Such a censorship of religion ... is a denial of liberty protected by the First Amendment and included in the liberty which is within the protection of the Fourteenth. ... [T]o condition the solicitation of aid for the perpetuation of religious views or systems upon a license, the grant of which rests in the exercise of a determination by state authority as to what is a religious cause, is to lay a forbidden burden upon the exercise of liberty protected by the Constitution.” 310 U. S., at 305, 307.
To the same effect are Lovell v. Griffin, supra, at 451, 452;6 Hague v. C. I. O., 307 U. S. 496, 516;7 Schneider v. [324]*324State, 308 U. S. 147, 163, 164; 8 Largent v. Texas, 318 U. S. 418, 422;9 Jones v. Opelika, 319 U. S. 103, adopting per curiam on rehearing the dissenting opinion in 316 U. S. 584, 600-602; 10 Niemotko v. Maryland, 340 U. S. 268, 271;11 Kunz v. New York, 340 U. S. 290, 293.12
[325]*325It is undeniable that the ordinance authorized the Mayor and Council of the City of Baxley to grant “or refuse to grant” the required permit in their uncontrolled discretion. It thus makes enjoyment of speech contingent upon the will of the Mayor and Council of the City, although that fundamental right is made free from congressional abridgment by the First Amendment and is protected by the Fourteenth from invasion by state action. For these reasons, the ordinance, on its face, imposes an unconstitutional prior restraint upon the enjoyment of First Amendment freedoms and lays “a forbidden burden upon the exercise of liberty protected by the Constitution.” Cantwell v. Connecticut, supra, at 307. Therefore, the judgment of conviction must fall.
Reversed.