Content-based laws Archives
The Supreme Court on July 6, 2020, struck down a provision in a robocall
law that allowed government to use robocalls to collect debt, saying it was
an impermissible speech discrimination under the First Amendment. The Court
in Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants found the rule a
content-based exception.
Boos v. Barry (1988) ruled that a D.C. law violated the First Amendment by
banning the display of signs criticizing a foreign government outside that
government’s embassy.
In a landmark 2010 decision, a divided Supreme Court used the First
Amendment to invalidate a campaign regulation that banned corporate and
union spending in political elections.
City of Ladue v. Gilleo (1994) said a city could not stop homeowners from
posting political signs. Banning these signs stopped First Amendment
protected expression.
Police Department of Chicago v. Mosley (1972) held that the government
could not, under the First Amendment, selectively exclude speakers based on
the content of their message.
Reed v. Town of Gilbert (2015) invalidated a city ordinance that restricted
the size of directional signs after a pastor challenged the law as
violating the First Amendment.
Rosenberger v. Rectors and Visitors of the University of Virginia (1995)
ruled that the denial of student funds to a Christian-based magazine
violated the First Amendment.
Sable Communications of California v. Federal Communications Commission
(1989) established the principle that indecent speech for adults is
protected by the First Amendment.
In Simon and Schuster v. New York State Crime Victims Board (1991), the
Supreme Court said that New York’s Son of Sam law violated the First
Amendment.
In 2012, the Supreme Court overturned the Stolen Valor Act as an
infringement on free speech after the law was used to prosecute a man who
falsely claimed to have won a Congressional Medal. In United States v.
Alvarez, the Court found a better remedy in the counterspeech doctrine.