Document Type
Brief
Case Name
Eleanor McCullen v. Martha Coakley
Publication Date
4-24-2013
Abstract
No. 12-1168
Eleanor McCullen v. Martha Coakley
On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
From the Summary of Argument
This Court granted certiorari in Hill v. Colorado “[b]ecause of the importance of the case.” 530 U.S. 703, 714 (2000). The Court should grant certiorari in this case because of the importance of placing limits on Hill.
The Court does not need to overrule Hill to contain the damage wrought by the First Circuit’s expansion of it. But the Court should contain Hill and thereby prevent further erosion of First Amendment protections for public-forum speech. The challenged Act prohibits stationary handbilling and conversational speech within fixed exclusion zones on public sidewalks near abortion clinics. The Act is not narrowly tailored to governmental interests in protecting unwilling listeners from close physical approaches or in preserving access to abortion clinics.
Recommended Citation
Walsh, Kevin C.; Shores, Ryan A.; and Garnett, Richard W., "Brief of Richard W. Garnett, Michael Stokes Paulsen, & Eugene Volokh as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioners" (2013). Court Briefs. 71.
https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/sct_briefs/71
Included in
Constitutional Law Commons, Courts Commons, First Amendment Commons, Supreme Court of the United States Commons
Comments
Amici are constitutional law professors who teach and write in the area of First Amendment law. Although amici have divergent perspectives on the Court’s abortion jurisprudence, amici agree on the importance of the First Amendment principles at stake in this case.
Richard W. Garnett is Associate Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame Law School. The courses he teaches include Constitutional Law and Freedom of Speech/First Amendment. His publications include THE FIRST AMENDMENT: A READER (3d ed.) (ed., with John H. Garvey & Frederick Schauer) (forthcoming 2014), and FIRST AMENDMENT STORIES (ed., with Andrew Koppelman) (Foundation Press 2011).