Freedom Of Speech - Chapter 10

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Blah

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blah

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Davis v. Massachusetts (a.k.a "the Boston Common Case"

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- A Minister was convicted for preaching in a public area called the "Boston Common,s"
- The minister was convicted not because the content of his sermon was ilegal but because he spoke in a place where the law said he could not speak without a permit
- Constraints of time, place and manner, are content-neutral
- Gave court absolute control over use of public space

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Hague v. CIO

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- Created the public forum
- IN this decision the Court turned away from the Davis decision
- This case established that the Constitution required that streets, parks and similar public places beo pen for "Assembly, communicating though between citizens, and discussing public questions"
- Such use may be regulated by the Court, but may not be prohibited

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Compatible-use rule

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- The crucial question is whether the manner of expression is basically incompatible with the normal activity of a particular place at a p articular time
- Time, place and manner regulations are content-neutral and often necessary to support significant government interests

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Pure Speech

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Verbal expression, as in a tradiitonal public speech or a newspaper editorial

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Speech plus

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- Speech conjoined/intertwined with action, such as marching in front of city hall chanting "down with the mayor"
- The content involved in speech plus is that the added conduct may cause the expression involved to receive less protection under the First Amendment than if it were just pure speech
- Symbolic expression is a form of speech deserving of First Amendment perspective

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Texas v. Johnson

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- Announced that flag burning, as a symbol means of political expresion, is protected by the Constitution
- Reasoned that speech was not merely spoken or written but includes conduct that is "sufficiently imbued with elements of communication to fall within the scope" of the First Amendment

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3-part Public Forum Rule

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1) Traditional public forum
2) Designated public forum (a library opening up a room -f it opens up for one person, it has to be open up to all groups)
3) Not a public forum

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The court has said a public forum, the State can regulate it by following certain rules:

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1) Viewpoint neutral (so the regulation cannot discriminate against anyone based on his/her ideas)
2) It has to be clear ( it can't be vague -- it has to say what is and what is not acceptable. If it's vague it creates chilling effect)
3) It has to be narrowly drawn (it caan't obe overbroad) -- you can have a clear standard that is very broad (i.e. you can't produce any pamphlets or material anywhere in the society -- it's not vague, but it's way too broad in order to prevent litter)