Back to
case page
The Free Speech website, http://faculty-web.at.nwu.edu/commstud/freespeech/
Springfield Planned Parenthood v. Jones |
This is not prior restraint: |
[Justice Stevens, writing for the majority in Hill]
Finally, petitioners argue that ß18-9-122(3)'s consent requirement is invalid because it imposes an unconstitutional "prior restraint" on speech. We rejected this argument previously in Schenck, 519 U.S., at 374, n. 6, and Madsen, 512 U.S., at 764, n. 2. Moreover, the restrictions in this case raise an even lesser prior restraint concern than those at issue in Schenck and Madsen where particular speakers were at times completely banned within certain zones. Under this statute, absolutely no channel of communication is foreclosed. No speaker is silenced. And no message is prohibited. Petitioners are simply wrong when they assert that "[t]he statute compels speakers to obtain consent to speak and it authorizes private citizens to deny petitioners' requests to engage in expressive activities." 41 To the contrary, this statute does not provide for a "heckler's veto" but rather allows every speaker to engage freely in any expressive activity communicating all messages and viewpoints subject only to the narrow place requirement imbedded within the "approach" restriction.
Furthermore, our concerns about "prior restraints" relate to restrictions imposed by official censorship.42 The regulations in this case, however, only apply if the pedestrian does not consent to the approach.43 Private citizens have always retained the power to decide for themselves what they wish to read, and within limits, what oral messages they want to consider. This statute simply empowers private citizens entering a health care facility with the ability to prevent a speaker, who is within eight feet and advancing, from communicating a message they do not wish to hear. Further, the statute does not authorize the pedestrian to affect any other activity at any other location or relating to any other person. These restrictions thus do not constitute an unlawful prior restraint.
|
Back to |
The Free Speech website, http://faculty-web.at.nwu.edu/commstud/freespeech/ |
|