Difference between revisions of "Government speech"
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(Government Speech and Government as Speaker | Constitution Annotated | Congress.gov) |
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*''[[Capitol Square Review & Advisory Bd. v. Pinette]]'', 515 U.S. 753 (1995) (a [[Scalia]] decision about rejecting an [[Establishment Clause]] challenge to Ohio allowing, pursuant to a religiously neutral state policy, "a private party to display an unattended religious symbol in a traditional public forum located next to its seat of government"). | *''[[Capitol Square Review & Advisory Bd. v. Pinette]]'', 515 U.S. 753 (1995) (a [[Scalia]] decision about rejecting an [[Establishment Clause]] challenge to Ohio allowing, pursuant to a religiously neutral state policy, "a private party to display an unattended religious symbol in a traditional public forum located next to its seat of government"). | ||
| + | ==Further reading== | ||
| + | *[https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt1-7-8-2/ALDE_00013545/ Government Speech and Government as Speaker | Constitution Annotated | Congress.gov | Library of Congress] | ||
[[category:First Amendment]] | [[category:First Amendment]] | ||
[[category:Free Speech]] | [[category:Free Speech]] | ||
[[category:government speech]] | [[category:government speech]] | ||
Revision as of 23:17, August 13, 2024
Government speech is “speech” -- expressive activity that is “intended to be communicative” -- which is spoken by the government.
Examples include:
- accepting monuments for placement in a city park, which “constitute[d] government speech” because the monuments were “meant to convey and have the effect of conveying a government message.” Summum, 555 U. S., at 472;
- "We must decide whether that rejection [of a Confederate flag license plate] violated the Constitution’s free speech guarantees. See Amdts. 1, 14. We conclude that it did not." Walker v. Tex. Div., Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc., 576 U.S. 200, 203-04 (2015)
Stated another way, the purposeful communication of the speaker’s own message generally qualifies as “speech.” Shurtleff v. City of Boston, 596 U.S. 243, 267 (2022).
Counterexample
Trademarks are not government speech:
| “ | The Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) denied the application based on a provision of federal law prohibiting the registration of trademarks that may “disparage ... or bring ... into contemp[t] or disrepute” any “persons, living or dead.” 15 U.S.C. §1052(a). We now hold that [1] this provision violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. It offends a bedrock First Amendment principle: Speech may not be banned on the ground that it expresses ideas that offend. | ” |
Matal v. Tam, 582 U.S. 218, 223 (2017).
Case law
As of August 12, 2024, a total of 937 federal decisions (including 32 by the U.S. Supreme Court). The most prominent and recent precedent is Shurtleff v. City of Boston, 596 U.S. 243 (2022), quoted above.
U.S. Supreme Court
- Capitol Square Review & Advisory Bd. v. Pinette, 515 U.S. 753 (1995) (a Scalia decision about rejecting an Establishment Clause challenge to Ohio allowing, pursuant to a religiously neutral state policy, "a private party to display an unattended religious symbol in a traditional public forum located next to its seat of government").