Heritage Memo To Obama

Here is a post from The Center Blog:

Ryan Messmore and Thomas M. Messner have authored "Protecting and Strengthening Religious Freedom: A Memo to President-elect Obama" on behalf of the Heritage Foundation.

The memo begins with a quotation from candidate Obama's much-discussed keynote address at the Call to Renewal conference back in June 2008. The quotation includes Sen. Obama's statement that "[s]ecularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square."

Teasing out the natural implications of that statement, Heritage recommends that President Obama:

• "Protect the ability of faith-based social service providers to honor their religious identity and integrity by maintaining their right to make employment decisions based on religious ideals"
• "Ensure the availability of federal conscience protections that free physicians and other medical professionals to serve patients without violating their religious beliefs"
• "Call on all citizens to respect the ability of religious citizens to participate in public policy debates--including debates about marriage--without fear of intimidation and reprisal"

All three of these are excellent recommendations. We hope and pray that President-elect Obama and his adsvisors will follow them.

Interesting Religious Speech Case

From the Religion Clause blog:

In Burritt v. New York State Department of Transportation, (ND NY, Dec. 18, 2008), a New York federal district court issued a preliminary injunction preventing the state of New York from enforcing its regulations relating to highway signs against a businessman who displayed a large religious sign on his property adjacent to US Route 11 in northern New York. Daniel Burritt believes he has a religious duty to communicate the Gospel of Jesus in all aspects of his life, including his business. At issue was a sign displaying a religious message placed on the side of a semi-trailer parked on Burritt's property.

Under the New York regulations, a sign on the premises of a business identifying the business can be displayed without a permit even adjacent to a highway, but a special permit is needed where the sign visible from the highway carries a different message. In enjoining enforcement while litigation on a permanent injunction is pending, the court said in part:

The State has not demonstrated a compelling interest for the Sign Laws' restriction on "off-premises" signs.... Plaintiff's trailer sign is apparently adjudged an "illegal sign" not because of its location on his property or its dimensions, but because of its content. It seems that a sign containing the same physical characteristics as Plaintiff's trailer sign but announcing the name of his business, "Acts II Construction, Inc.: Building Bridges for Jesus," would be allowed under the regulations. The Court cannot see how aesthetics and traffic safety are protected by a sign that displays the name of business, but are jeopardized by a sign of the same size and location that contains a religious message.... [T]he regulations are not narrowly tailored to achieve the ends that the regulations are intended to achieve.

Alliance Defense Fund yesterday issued a release discussing the decision, including a photo of the disputed sign. (See prior related posting.)

Religious Liberty in Fiction

Religion Clause has an interesting post about a recent children's Christmas book. Here is a link about the book.

Here is the story from the Arlington Heights, Illinois Daily Herald:

Fictional book retells Wauconda water tower cross controversy

By Madhu Krishnamurthy | Daily Herald Staff

Published: 12/21/2008 12:02 AM

A roughly 20-year-old controversy over two crosses that once graced Wauconda's water towers hasn't yet made history books, but it's now immortalized in a fictional children's Christmas tale produced by area teenagers.

The book, aptly named "The Cross and the Water Tower," retells the 1989 story of how Wauconda officials were forced to remove the illuminated crosses from the towers under threat of a lawsuit by prominent Buffalo Grove atheist Robert Sherman.

Sherman backed some area residents who objected to the village displaying a religious symbol on a public structure. It stirred a debate that made national headlines.

The village ultimately replaced the roughly 10-foot-high crosses with a star.

Yet, in protest of the village's move, crosses started cropping up everywhere in town, on residents' front yards and in shop windows, many of which exist to this day.

"It was a fun memory growing up," said 17-year-old Rita Weiss of Lake Zurich, who helped research the book. "I always thought it was a beautiful story, and I always wanted to go look for the crosses in Wauconda. We would take special trips to see them."

Weiss and her cousins decided their favorite bedtime story made the perfect Christmas fable to pass on to future generations.

Researched, written and illustrated by the children of Wauconda area residents who lived through the episode, the book is being distributed through Amazon.com and several area churches. Soon, it is expected to be available in area book stores. It also can be ordered through the Web site thecrossandthewatertower.com.

"We interviewed dozens of residents," Weiss said. "We went to a lot of local shops and asked them what they thought about it, talked to a lot of local churches and pastors. It was just neat to hear their different memories and what they thought about it and stuff. I'm really happy about how it turned out."

The book is dedicated to the 1989 residents of Wauconda for being an example.

Longtime Wauconda resident Rosemary Mers, formerly the owner of Mers Restaurant now called Docks Bar & Grill off Route 176, is acknowledged in the book's foreword. One of the original lighted crosses removed from the tower was placed on the roof of the family's restaurant.

Mers said the replacement star is a victory for the town's Christians.

"The star is a symbol of Christ's birth and that's what Christmas is all about," said Mers, 76. "It was a hard thing for all of us to take. But we didn't feel we lost any battle. We really felt like in the long run Wauconda won."

Sherman, now 55, sees the star on Wauconda's water towers as a triumph for atheists, too. The five-pointed star to atheists and other secular groups represents the birth of the sun, he said.

Sherman said the residents' protest with crosses was "a festival of religious freedom."

"By me forcing the government to stop doing religion for the Christians, the Christians did it by themselves," he said. "That's the way it's supposed to be in the United States."

Yet, Sherman doesn't agree with the children's book's depiction of what happened.

"The reason that it is a book of utter fiction is that it does a complete role reversal because at that time it was the atheists and our supporters who were polite, courteous, pleasant but firm," he said. "And it was the Christians who were rude, arrogant, nasty and hostile. It completely reverses the behavior and character of the key players, and of the debate. It's a good piece of reverse psychology."

Equal Access Case

From the Religion Clause blog (link):

In Idaho, six students have filed suit in federal district court against Boise State University challenging University rules that preclude student religious organizations from receiving funding from student activity fees. The University contends that the exclusion is required by the provision in Idaho's Constitution (Art. IX, Sec. 5) barring state monies from going to religious institutions. Plaintiffs, represented by the Center for Law and Religious Freedom, say that the University policy amounts to viewpoint discrimination in violation of the free expression provisions of the U.S. Constitution. The complaint in Cordova v. Laliberte, (D ID, Dec. 17, 2008), and plaintiff's brief in support of motion for preliminary injunction are available online. Yesterday's Deseret News reported on the lawsuit.

The Rabbi's Tale: Ideas Have Consequences

Let me close out this course on Religion and the Constitution with a story told by Rabbi Daniel Lapin in his book The Severed Flower. I am quoting Rabbi Lapin:


". . . let me tell you what happened to one of my teachers, a great rabbi. On a trip to Israel he found himself seated next to the head of the Israeli socialist movement. As the plane took off, my teachers’ son, sitting several rows behind, came forward and said, ‘Father, let me take your shoes; I have your slippers here. You know how your feet swell on the airplane.’ A few minutes later, he came and said, ‘Here are the sandwiches Mother sent; I know you don’t like the airline food.’

This went on in similar fashion for some time, and finally, the head of Israel’s socialist movement turned to my teacher and said, ‘I don’t get this. I have four sons. They’re grown now. But in all my life I don’t recall them ever offering to do anything at all for me. Why is your son doing all of this?'

And the rabbi said, ‘You have to understand. You mustn’t blame yourself. Your sons are faithful to your teachings, and my sons are faithful to my teachings. It’s simple, you see. You made the decision to teach your sons that they are descended from apes. That means that you are one generation closer to the ape than they. And that means that it is only proper and appropriate that you acknowledge their status and that you serve them. But, you see, I chose to teach my sons that we came from God Himself. And that puts me one generation closer to the ultimate truth, and that means it’s only appropriate that they treat me accordingly.'"


Somehow, I think this story is a good capstone for this course because its about the power of ideas and the liberty to transmit those ideas to your children.

Good luck on your exams and have a great Christmas (or other winter holiday).

Final Exam Info

The Final Exam is a three hour (closed book) exam that counts for 300 points. The exam consists of two medium/longish essay questions (approximately 2000 words) and one medium essay question (1000 words). Here are some things you need to know:

1. All answers must be typed on a computer using Extegrity Exam 4 software. Check with Vickie in the Dean's Office with any questions about procedures.

2. If you need a lab computer, make sure Vickie knows.

3. Be sure to observe the maximum word limits for each question. If you go beyond the word limit, it will adversely affect your grade for that question. If I say "answer the question in approximately 2000 words or less" that means what it says. I use "approximately" to be flexible, so you don't have to stop in the middle of a sentence. 2025 words is okay;2100 words is not okay. Please don't abuse the flexibility that I give you by using the word "approximately."

Debate On Conlawprof List:County bans clothing with "disruptive or inflammatory language or content" in County buildings

Post One (Prof. Volokh):

Greene County, Missouri is banning "all individuals" from "wearing clothing, apparel, or other accessories containing disruptive or inflammatory language or content" in County buildings. Constitutionally permissible regulation in a nonpublic forum, or unconstitutionally viewpoint-based or vague?

Post Two (Prof. Wasserman):

Is Cohen v. California still good law? If so, this cannot be valid, at least in the main run of cases. Granted, that case analyzed outside the public forum doctrine, which had not yet assumed its central place. But it seems to be identical--disruptive or inflammatory language in a county building. This actually seems more blatant, since it is a direct regulation of speech, rather than a neutral law applied to speech.

Post Three (Prof. Volokh):

But Cohen rested on the law's being a general criminal law,
applicable everywhere. "Cohen was tried under a statute applicable
throughout the entire State. Any attempt to support this conviction on
the ground that the statute seeks to preserve an appropriately decorous
atmosphere in the courthouse where Cohen was arrested must fail in the
absence of any language in the statute that would have put appellant on
notice that certain kinds of otherwise permissible speech or conduct
would nevertheless, under California law, not be tolerated in certain
places." I would think that the nonpublic forum rules would be more
government-friendly, though perhaps not government-friendly enough to
authorize this restriction.

Thoughts? Vagueness issue? Is it reasonable in light of the purpose of the non-public forum?

"German Homeschoolers Seek Political Asylum In U.S."

From the Religion Clause Blog:

In Germany, children are required to attend public school and home schooling is banned. Uwe and Hannelore Romeike who homeschool their children recently left Germany for the United States in order to avoid fines, jail and possible loss of custody of their children. HSLDA reported yesterday that a petition for political asylum has been filed by the Romeikes who refuse for religious reasons to send their children to Germany's secular public schools. The Romeike family currently lives in Tennessee where they are free to homeschool. Asylum is available where individuals in the U.S. have a well-founded fear of actual persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion if they return to their home country. Homeschool Legal Defense Association is supporting the unusual asylum application.

Seven Aphorisms Case

Here is an analysis of the case from the First Amendment Center.

Here is a link to the transcript of today's oral argument.

Here is a NYT article on this Term's religious display case. Here is an excerpt:

Across the street from City Hall here sits a small park with about a dozen donated buildings and objects — a wishing well, a millstone from the city’s first flour mill and an imposing red granite monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments.

Thirty miles to the north, in Salt Lake City, adherents of a religion called Summum gather in a wood and metal pyramid hard by Interstate 15 to meditate on their Seven Aphorisms, fortified by an alcoholic sacramental nectar they produce and surrounded by mummified animals.

In 2003, the president of the Summum church wrote to the mayor here with a proposal: the church wanted to erect a monument inscribed with the Seven Aphorisms in the city park, “similar in size and nature” to the one devoted to the Ten Commandments.

The city declined, a lawsuit followed and a federal appeals court ruled that the First Amendment required the city to display the Summum monument. The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear arguments in the case, which could produce the most important free speech decision of the term.

The justices will consider whether a public park open to some donations must accept others as well. In cases involving speeches and leaflets, the courts have generally said that public parks are public forums where the government cannot discriminate among speakers on the basis of what they propose to say. The question of how donated objects should be treated is, however, an open one.

Inside the pyramid, sitting on a comfortable white couch near a mummified Doberman named Butch, Ron Temu, a Summum counselor, said the two monuments would complement each other.

“They’ve put a basically Judeo-Christian religious text in the park, which we think is great, because people should be exposed to it,” Mr. Temu said. “But our principles should be exposed as well.”

Su Menu, the church’s president, agreed. “If you look at them side by side,” Ms. Menu said of the two monuments, “they really are saying similar things.”

The Third Commandment: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”

The Third Aphorism: “Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates.”

Michael W. Daniels, the mayor here, is not the vibrating sort.

Sitting with the city attorney in a conference room in City Hall, Mr. Daniels deftly drew several fine lines in explaining why the city could treat the two monuments differently.

Only donations concerning the city’s history are eligible for display in the park as a matter of longstanding policy, he said, and only when donated by groups with a long association with the city. The Fraternal Order of Eagles, a national civic organization, donated the Ten Commandments monument in 1971.

The donations, Mr. Daniels went on, are transformed when the city accepts them. “Monuments on government property become government speech,” he said.

Under the First Amendment, the government can generally say what it likes without giving equal time to opposing views; it has much less latitude to choose among private speakers.

Asked what the government is saying when it displays the Ten Commandments, Mr. Daniels talked about law and history. He did not mention religion.

Pressed a little, he retreated.

“The fact that we own the monument doesn’t mean that what is on the monument is something we are espousing, promoting, establishing, embracing,” Mr. Daniels said. “We’re looking at, Does it fit with the heritage of the people of this area?”

Brian M. Barnard, a lawyer for the Summum church, said the city’s distinctions were cooked up after the fact as a way to reject his client’s monument. The local chapter of the Eagles, Mr. Barnard added, had only been in town two years when it donated the Ten Commandments monument.

“We have a city that will allow one organization to put up its religious ideals and principles,” Mr. Barnard said. “When the next group comes along, they won’t allow it to put up its religious ideals and principles.”

Last year, the federal appeals court in Denver sided with the Summum church and ordered Pleasant Grove City to erect its monument.

Although the case appears to present questions under the First Amendment’s ban on government establishment of religion, the appeals court said the case was properly analyzed under the amendment’s free-speech protections. That distinguishes it from most cases concerning the display of nativity scenes and the like on government property.

Here is another NYT piece, this one an editorial:

Displays of the Ten Commandments have long been a lightning rod in constitutional law, and so they are again today. The Supreme Court is hearing arguments in a challenge to a city’s decision to allow the Ten Commandments to be placed in a public park, while refusing to allow a different religion’s display. The court should rule that that city’s decision violates the First Amendment prohibition on the establishment of religion.

Pleasant Grove City, Utah, has a city park, known as Pioneer Park, that includes various unattended displays. These include historical artifacts from the town, a Sept. 11 memorial, and a Ten Commandments monument that was given to the city by the Fraternal Order of Eagles, a national civic group.

A religious organization called Summum, which was founded in 1975 and is based in Salt Lake City, applied to install its own monument in the park. The monument it proposed would include the group’s Seven Principles of Creation (also called the Seven Aphorisms), which it believes were inscribed on tablets handed down from God to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Pleasant Grove City rejected Summum’s application. It told the group that it had a decades-old practice of only accepting displays that directly related to the city’s history, or that were donated by groups with longstanding ties to the community. But this was not a firm policy at the time. It was only later that the city adopted a written policy enshrining these criteria.

Summum sued, arguing that the rejection of its monument violated its right to free speech under the First Amendment. The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver agreed. In allowing monuments in its park, the court ruled, Pleasant Grove City had no right to discriminate on the basis of the content of those monuments. The city was free to ban all unattended displays if it wanted to. But once it decided to allow such displays, the court ruled, it had no right to permit the Ten Commandments but bar the Seven Principles of Creation.

The federal appeals court reached the right result, but regrettably, it ducked the issue at the heart of the case, which turns on the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The real problem is that Pleasant Grove City elevated one religion, traditional Christianity, over another, Summum. The founders regarded this sort of religious preference as so odious that they included a specific provision in the First Amendment prohibiting it. The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has a bad record on Establishment Clause cases, which made it easier for all of the parties to treat the case as a simple speech case.

But as the American Jewish Committee, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and other groups argue in a friend-of-the-court brief, the Supreme Court should not make this mistake. It should squarely confront the religious discrimination underlying Pleasant Grove City’s rejection of Summum’s monument and make clear that the city violated the Establishment Clause.

There is no shortage of churches, synagogues and private parcels of land where the Ten Commandments could be displayed without the need to include the credos of alternative faiths. Public property like Pioneer Park must be open to all religions on an equal basis — or open to none at all.

What do you think? Suppose the Park accepts a donated display praising civil rights from the NAACP. Must it also accept a display denouncing racial equality from the KKK? Must all community groups have access to the park or "none at all?"

Prof. Amar on the R.A.V. Decision

Prof. Amar says R.A.V. is important for many reasons. He says the Court “reaffirmed at least five basic First Amendment principles.”

Let’s look at these principles:

First, symbolic expression – burning a flag, displaying a swastika – is fully embraced by the First Amendment. We will discuss this later when we get to Texas v. Johnson, the flag burning case. But some have argued that symbolic speech, such as burning a flag, can be regulated as “conduct.”

Second, government may not regulate the physical medium with the purpose of suppressing the ideological message. So you can ban public burning for environmental reasons, but not disrespectful burning of the American flag.

Third, political expression – especially expression critical of government – lies at the core of the First Amendment.

Four, courts must guard against attempts by government to suppress disfavored viewpoints

Five, exceptions to these principles must not be “ad hoc” – i.e. “Flag burning is different.” or “Hate speech” is different. [“seditious libel” is different” or “dirty words are different” or “sexual expression is different”]

Child Pornography

Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (P. 108)

Distinguish child pornography that depicts actual children in sexually explicit images with pornography produced without using actual children.

For example, a movie called “Sex In Junior High” is produced using 18 year old actors who appear to be 13 or 14 or by using computer generated imaging.

Now assume same movie is produced using actual 13 year old actors in sexually explicit scenes.

Under New York v. Ferber child pornography is not protected by the First Amendment - - even if not obscene under Miller - - because the state has an interest in protecting “children exploited by the production process.” (P. 108)

Imagine a very artistic version of the movie Lolita using a 12 year old girl appearing nude in sexually explicit scenes. Obscenity under Miller? No. Artistic and literary value protected.

Probably not protected under Ferber because it exploits a young child actor.

Now same movie, but it stars an 18 year old girl who looks about 12 (she is small, her hair is done in pig tails, she wears youthful clothing, carries a Barbie doll, etc.). No actual child is harmed, so the reasoning of Ferber (protecting child actors from sexual abuse by the production process) does not apply. This movie is neither obscene under Miller nor child pornography under Ferber.

Miller v. California

Justice Stewart once wrote a concurring opinion in an obscenity case in which he explained the difficulty of defining obscenity. He said:

“I have reached the conclusion . . . [that obscenity is] limited to hard-core pornography. I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it.” Jacobellis v. Ohio 378 U.S. at 197.

If it makes me blush, you can ban it! That’s the best Justice Stewart could come up with. Is this test just a wee bit vague?

Did the Court do any better in Miller v. California? (p. 105)

Miller comes up with a three-part test for non-protected obscenity:

1) whether the average person applying contemporary community standards would find that the work taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interest.

Whoa! Let’s stop here?

What does “prurient interest” mean?

The Court has defined prurience as material appealing to a shameful or lascivious or lustful interest in sex. It does not include a normal interest in sex.

What does that mean?

In one case, the Court held that an erotic magazine was “prurient” because the “leer of the sensualist” had permeated the manner in which the publication had been distributed.

The magazine had been mailed from the towns of Intercourse and Blue Ball, Pennsylvania and the publisher boasted of the explicit nature of the publication. The publisher’s clear intent was to appeal to the prurient interest of potential readers.

O.K. Now which community are we looking at – the local community (say in Idaho, Utah or Alabama) or a national standard?

Take a look at the beginning of Roman Numeral III on page 106 – the Court says that “First Amendment limitations . . . do not vary from community to community, but this does not mean that there are, or should or can be, fixed uniform national standards of precisely what appeals to the ‘prurient interest’ or is ‘patently offensive.’”

Same test, but different standards (a movie that is not obscene in New York may be obscene in Mississippi). Really a question addressed to the common sense of the jury. An average jury pool in New York may have a different sense than an average jury in Mississippi.

O.K. Part two of the Miller test.

Material is obscene if it “depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law.” (p. 105)

What does that mean? Again, this standard is supposed to be based upon contemporary community standards as understood by average jurors. (p.106)

Page 105: “[N]o one will be subject to prosecution for the sale or exposure of obscene materials unless these materials depict or describe patently offensive ‘hard core’ sexual conduct...”

So what happens in Jenkins v. Georgia (p.106) when a Georgia jury applies local community standards and concludes that the movie "Carnal Knowledge" is prurient and patently offensive?

The Supreme Court buys some popcorn and malted milk balls, goes to the movies, and says “as a matter of constitutional law” Carnal Knowledge is not “patently offensive.” (p.108)

Why not?

It’s not “hard core”? P. 107

What is “hard core”?

Justice Stewart knew it when he saw it and so, apparently, does the Court.

Five thumbs up for Carnal Knowledge – it’s a “must see”! The Court takes upon itself the task of distinguishing community standards of prurience and offensiveness from mere “community prejudice.” [Nowak at 1137.] Or is this simply an elitist standard of what is offensive? If it’s a movie someone I know from the yacht club might go to, then it’s not obscene.

O.K. Third part of the test.

A work is not obscene, even if it is prurient and patently offensive, unless in addition it lacks “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.” (p. 105) “Taken as a whole.”

This was the stumbling block a few years ago in the Mapplethorpe trial – pictures of one man urinating into the mouth of another man, one man inserting his fist into the anus of another man might very well be considered prurient and patently offensive in Cincinnati. Pete Rose was offering 2-1 odds on that issue.

The third part of the test is not judged by local community standards. Rather, it supposedly is to be decided on an objective basis (i.e. whether a reasonable person would find serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value in the material, taken as a whole).

The Mapplethorpe photos were being exhibited in a major art museum and numerous art professionals testified as to the artistic value of the photographs.

What about Playboy and Penthouse magazine? Apply Miller to these publications?

Do they appeal to the prurient interest (judged by Nebraska community standards)?

Do they depict patently offensive sexual conduct or lewd exhibition of the genitals?

Do they have “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value?”

[Remember the famous Playboy interview with Jimmy Carter discussing his personal struggle with the Sermon on the Mount]

The Miller test is very protective of pornography. Is it overprotective, underprotective, or just about right?

What about an extremely violent movie? The test only covers patently offensive displays of sexual conduct.

Suppose a law professor screened an otherwise obscene film in class in order to conduct a discussion of First Amendment law. Could he be charged with a violation of the state’s obscenity law? Would the screening have serious “scientific” value (i.e. educational value)?

[See Prof. Smolla at 325:]

“The reality is that “obscenity” is currently limited to genuinely “hard core” pornographic expression and that relatively little falls within the category as it is presently defined.”


What about child pornography? New York v. Ferber (p. 108)

Obscenity and the "Green" First Amendment

Should consenting adults have the right to view or read whatever movies or books they wish?

Or does society have a strong interest in abating cultural pollution by regulating distribution of obscene and pornographic films and books? What good are clean rivers and air if we live in a disgustingly polluted culture?

Consider Chief Justice Burger's observation in Paris Adult Theatre (p. 100): "If we accept the...well nigh universal belief that good books, plays, and art lift the spirit, improve the mind, enrich the human personality, and develop character, can we then say that a state legislature may not act on the corollary assumption that commerce in obscene books, or public exhibitions focused on obscene conduct, have a tendency to exert a corrupting and debasing impact leading to antisocial behavior?"

Or as Leon Kass likes to say, even if there is no empirical data to support the notion that obscenity is socially debasing, much of what is freely available today in our society is certainly repugnant and "repugnance is the emotional expression of deep wisdom, beyond reason’s power fully to articulate it." See prior post here.

But who decides which expression is obscene or repugnant and which is not? Do you trust government officials to decide which is which?

This Week

Thursday Nov. 6

We will finish up our discussion of libel and then move on to discuss the 1A and obscenity/pornography. We will not spend a lot of class time on obscenity--we will focus primarily on Miller v. California (p.103) and American Booksellers v. Hudnut (p. 117).

Don't worry too much about Ashcroft (p. 108), Playboy Entertainment (p. 122) and Ashcroft v. ACLU (p. 129).

Friday Nov. 7

Assignment 6 p. 139-160.

Overbreadth and Vagueness Doctrines

Here are some observations from Profs. Ides & May on these doctrines:

1. "The overbreadth doctrine creates a special First Amendment exception to the normal rules of standing, which bar a litigant from asserting the constitutional rights of third parties. The overbreadth doctrine allows an individual as to whom the application of the law may be constitutional to challenge the constitutionality of a law on the theory that as applied to other persons or under other circumstances the law violates the First Amendment. The essence of an overbreadth argument is that even though the challenged law may have some constitutional applications, its broad sweep encompasses protected speech activities and chills First Amendment rights of persons not before the Court to such an extent that the entire law must be struck down."

2. "The void for vagueness doctrine requires that all criminal statutes adequately describe the activities they prohibit. The doctrine is premised on two due process concerns--that persons potentially subject to the proscription be given fair notice of that which is proscribed and that officers charged with enforcing the law not be vested with arbitrary enforcement discretion. In the context of statutes that may tread on First Amendment rights, these due process concerns take on special significance. A vague statute that may include protected speech activity within its amorphous scope potentially runs afoul of the overbreadth doctrine by chilling protected speech. Under such circumstances, the overbreadth and void for vagueness arguments are essentially identical--the vagueness creates the overbreadth. Next, a vague statute that may be applied to speech activity and that vests enforcement officers with arbitrary authority to define the scope of the proscription runs a risk of permitting discriminatory enforcement on the basis of the favored or disfavored content of the speech. [What doctrine does this remind you of from our study of free exercise?] The vesting of such authority is itself unconstitutional."

Vagueness and Overbreadth

Coates v. Cincinnati (p. 44)

A Cincinnati ordinance makes it a criminal offense for “three or more persons to assemble . . . on any of the sidewalks . . . and there conduct themselves in a manner annoying to persons passing by.” What do you think of that ordinance?

Suppose Sean Lennon, Madonna, and Neil Young get together on the corner of 14th and O Streets and, to protest the war in Iraq, start singing “Give Peace A Chance” a capella as I walk by. Does this annoy me?

Is it protected speech?

On the other hand, suppose 3 or 4 skinheads get together and as I walk by scream insults and obscenities at me. Is this protected speech?

Maybe not (the Court has held that so-called “fighting words” are not protected by the First Amendment--abusive, insulting words that are likely to produce a violent reaction).

So one problem with this statute is that it is overbroad i.e. it sweeps beyond punishing unprotected activities and includes within its scope activities which are protected by the First Amendment.

Let’s assume that the law is enforced against the skinheads (and remember we are assuming that the language they used constitutes fighting words not protected by the first amendment).

Can the skinheads attack the statute as being unconstitutional “on its face” because it sweeps very broadly so as to cover both protected and unprotected speech?

Do they have standing to raise the claims of persons who might be prosecuted for engaging in protected speech that annoys someone?

You could view this as a third party standing issue, but I think the First amendment overbreadth doctrine is based more on First Amendment concerns than on justiciability concerns.

From a First Amendment perspective, why should we allow these skinheads, whose abusive speech is unprotected, to attack this law as unconstitutional on its face.

What effect does this kind of law have on protected speech? Assuming you knew of the existence of the law, would you be more likely or less likely to get together with 2 or 3 friends to protest against the war, or abortion, or high taxes, or police brutality?

The law has a chilling effect on constitutionally protected speech and there is also a danger that it will be selectively enforced against unpopular speakers.

[As one scholar explains: “The central rationale is that a special exemption from the usual standing rules is warranted in the free speech context because of the risk that overbroad laws will chill the exercise of first amendment rights.”]

[Another insight from the same scholar: “In effect, then, the overbreadth doctrine is an exception both to the traditional ‘as applied’ mode of judicial review and to the general rule that an individual has no standing to litigate the rights of third persons.”]

What do you think about the overbreadth doctrine? Do the benefits of the doctrine outweigh its costs?

The vagueness doctrine is closely related to the overbreadth doctrine.

Vagueness deals with the clarity of a challenged law. Generally, under procedural due process requirements, a criminal law must be drawn with sufficient clarity so as to provide fair notice to persons before making their activity criminal.

When laws regulate activities protected by the First Amendment, such as speech, assembly or association, the requirement of fair notice is of special importance. Do you agree? Why?

Again, a vague law restricting speech might chill protected speech. For example, what effect would the Cincinnati ordinance have on your decision to assemble with a few friends for the purpose of constitutionally protected (but perhaps offensive) speech?

In order to ensure that protected speech is not chilled and that there be clear guidelines to govern law enforcement, a statute will be declared void for vagueness if it is so vague as to bring protected speech into the prohibition or if it leaves citizens without clear guidance as to the nature of speech for which they can be punished. The Cincinnati ordinance in Coates violated both of these guidelines.

The idea is that the First Amendment needs “breathing space.” [413 U.S. at 611 – Broderick v. Oklahoma].

A law that is overbroad but not vague – A law prohibiting “all speech on public sidewalks.”

Vague but not overbroad – A law prohibiting “all speech not protected by the First Amendment.”

"11th Circuit Upholds County Legislative Prayers With Sectarian References"

Here is a report from the Religion Clause blog:

In Pelphrey v. Cobb County, Georgia, (11th Cir., Oct. 28, 2008), the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, upheld the practice of the Cobb County Commission and the Cobb County Planning Commission to open their meetings with a prayer offered by local clergy or other members of the community, now invited randomly. The clergy have represented various faiths, and sometimes include in their prayers sectarian references. However the vast majority of clergy offering invocations have been Christian. Relying on the Supreme Court's decision in Marsh v. Chambers, the majority of the court held that county boards are not limited by the Establishment Clause to non-sectarian invocations so long as the prayers are not "exploited to proselytize or advance any one, or to disparage any other, faith or belief."

The appellate court, however, agreed with the district court that the prayer policy of the Planning Commission during 2003-04 was unconstitutional because it excluded certain faiths from the list of potential invitees. It agreed that nominal damages could be awarded for the violation. The majority opinion was written by Judge William Pryor who, before joining the court, was attorney general of Alabama. In that role he was part of a high profile church-state controversy involving the removal of Alabama's Chief Justice Roy Moore.

Judge Middlebrooks dissenting argued that the prayer policies of the county violate the Lemon test because they have both a religious purpose and effect and involve excessive entanglement of the state with religion. He argued further that the Marsh exception for legislative prayer should be limited to "invocations before the United States Congress and the state legislatures." He added:

I concur with the majority that judges, as representatives of the government, have no business editing or evaluating the content of prayer. However, I also believe that sponsorship of prayer by these commissions presents a similar, although less direct, danger. When state sponsored prayer is a perfunctory and sterile exercise marking the beginning of a commission agenda, religion becomes the casualty.

Americans United issued a press release criticizing the decision. Yesterday's Columbus (GA) Ledger-Enquirer reported on the decision.

Happy Halloween

Prior Restraint

Prior restraint on speech is generally regarded, both by the Court and by commentators, to be more serious than subsequent punishment.

Why should that be so? If a particular utterance or publication may be punished after the fact, what is wrong with enjoining or otherwise preventing the speech from ever taking place?

Professor Alexander Bickel once said that a criminal statute and the fear of subsequent punishment “chills” speech, but prior restraint “freezes” speech.

According to Prof. Nowak:

“The injunctive remedy with its speedier procedural framework [and lower standard of proof] is thus more subject to abuse and to indiscriminate application, whereas criminal prosecution entails a more thorough self-selection process resulting in fewer applications and successes. The overall chilling effect on speech is consequently less with criminal prosecution. Also, even if a temporary restraining order is ultimately found to have been improperly granted, the Government may have in fact achieved its end by restraining speech at a crucial time. Although the speech may be subsequently allowed, its impact may then be negligible because of time elapsed. If subsequent punishment chills prior restraint freezes.”

Suppose the Lincoln Journal is about to publish a libelous article about me. The article is full of untrue and scandalous charges about me. Should I be able to enjoin its publication, or should I be limited to my remedy of suing for damages once the article is published and my reputation is destroyed?

In its modern form, the doctrine of prior restraint “provides that prior restraints are highly suspect both substantively and procedurally and are subject to a rebuttable presumption of unconstitutionality. In seeking to justify use of such a restraint the government bears a heavy burden of proof. Generally, the Court has professed to employ the clear and present danger doctrine in reviewing such prior restraint systems.” (Profs. Barron & Dienes).

Suppose the Lincoln Journal is about to publish some state secrets it has obtained from some unknown source. The secrets concern, let’s say, our battle plans for an offensive against the enemy. Or the location of our battleships and nuclear missiles.

Should the United States government be able to enjoin publication of these classified military secrets?

[“In the field of national security, by contrast, virginity matters. The harm that may be expected to flow from revealing a state secret is almost exclusively related to the first publication.” Jeffries, Rethinking Prior Restraint, 92 Yale L.J. 409, 412 (1002)].

Prior Restraint Hypo

Here is a hypo I am borrowing from Profs. Ides and May:

"Modern Mercenary, a monthly periodical, is about to publish an article entitled "Five Easy Steps to Making Your Own Thermonuclear Device." The author of the piece, G.I. Jones, is a nuclear physicist who gathered...his information from nonclassified sources....Although the government doubts that Jone's article will lead to the basement construction of nuclear weapons, government experts claim that publication will possibly provide sufficient information to allow a medium-sized nation[such as, perhaps, Iran] to move faster in developing a thermonuclear weapon."

Assume that federal law authorizes injunctive relief against anyone who publishes scientific data concerning weapons of mass destruction "with reason to believe such data will be utilized to injure the United States or to secure an advantage to any foreign nation." Would it be constitutional for a federal court to enjoin Modern Mercenary from publishing the above-described article?