In California, soliciting or engaging in prostitution is classified as “disorderly conduct,” a misdemeanor. A group called Erotic Service Provider Legal Education and Research Project (referred to as ESP), sued California, challenging this law. ESP argued that the solicitation of prostitution is “speech,” and the statute unconstitutionally criminalizes it—violating the First Amendment. The ESP argued… Read More No First Amendment Right to Prostitution
In 2012, the Interior Department imposed a 20-year ban on new uranium mining on over a million acres of federal land in Arizona near the Grand Canyon. One of the reasons for the ban was concern over groundwater contamination. But another reason cited was to preserve “cultural and tribal resources” on the land because the… Read More First Amendment No Obstacle to Federal Uranium-Mining Ban in Arizona
Vice President Pence announced that he would attend the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Savannah, Georgia. Accordingly, city officials––in collaboration with the Secret Service–– released a list of 29 items that would be prohibited at the parade. Among those items were posters and signs that would presumably be used to protest against the Vice President. … Read More First Amendment Affirms Right to Protest at St. Patty’s Day Parade––Even When Vice President Pence Attends
Early last year, protesters gathered at the Denver airport to express their opposition to President Trump’s executive order temporarily restricting people from several majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States—the so-called “travel ban.” At the time (and still today), a Denver ordinance requires anyone protesting at the Denver airport to first obtain a permit. The… Read More Travel-Ban Protesters at Denver Airport Lose First Amendment Challenge
Rodney Keister is a traveling Christian evangelical. He proselytizes by preaching and passing out literature on public sidewalks. He also speaks and prays with people passing by. (He appears to have an organization named Evangelism Mission.) Two years ago, he was proselytizing on the sidewalk near an intersection on the campus of the University of… Read More Court Upholds University of Alabama’s Permitting Scheme for On-Campus Speech
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