The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision on June 26 that, while divided in its reasoning, was unanimous in its sensible bottom line: States cannot ban speech when they can just ban conduct.
The decision in McCullen v. Coakley overturned Massachusetts’ abortion clinic buffer-zone law, which created a no-speech zone on public sidewalks and roads within 35 feet of clinic entrances. The opinion for the court, written by the Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and joined by the court’s four liberals, found the law to be content-neutral — meaning its restrictions applied without reference to the content of the speech — despite an exception allowing speech by clinic representatives. However, the court found the regulation to be invalid because it was not narrowly tailored — and thus restricted too much speech — to the government interest of maintaining clinic safety. The court insisted that Massachusetts instead should enforce the numerous state and federal criminal laws banning everything from assault and harassment to blocking clinic entrances.
