Case Categories: Public Forum

• American Freedom Defense Initiative v. King County (2016)

  American Freedom Defense Initiative v. King County (2016), which involved First Amendment implications of advertising on public transit systems, was denied...

• Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes (1998)

  In Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes (1998), the Supreme Court upheld a decision to exclude Ralph P. Forbes, an independent candidate for...

• Biden v. Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University (2021)

  In Biden v. Knight First Amendment Institute, the Supreme Court vacated an appellate decision that ruled that President Donald Trump had violated the First...

• Christian Legal Society v. Martinez (2010)

  Christian Legal Society v. Martinez (2010) said not allowing a Christian Legal Society chapter to receive benefits did not violate the First Amendment...

• City of Madison v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (1976)

  City of Madison v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (1976) said nonunion teachers could not be stopped from speaking at school board meetings...

• Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (1985)

  Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense Fund (1985) said excluding some organizations from soliciting contributions from federal employees didn't violate the First...

• Frisby v. Schultz (1988)

  Frisby v. Schultz (1988) upheld a city ordinance banning picketing in neighborhoods. Dissenting justices said the law suppressed First Amendment-protected...

• Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization (1939)

  Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization (1939) dealt with the freedom of assembly and set the precedent for the public forum doctrine in First Amendment...

• Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)

  Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988) decided that schools may limit student First Amendment rights if student speech is inconsistent with an...

• Lee v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness (1992)

  In Lee v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness (1991), the Supreme Court said the First Amendment prohibited a ban on leafleting in an airport...

• Manhattan Community Access Corporation v. Halleck (2019)

  In Manhattan Community Access Corporation v. Halleck (2019), a sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a private corporation that oversees public access...

• McCullen v. Coakley (2014)

  In McCullen v. Coakley (2014) the Court ruled that a state law prohibiting individuals from standing in a buffer zone outside an abortion facility violated the...

• Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky (2018)

  A Minnesota law that prohibited wearing political apparel at polling places was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court as violating the First Amendment...

• Nurre v. Whitehead (2010)

  Nurre v. Whitehead (2010) involved a student, who alleged her First Amendment rights were violated when the band could not perform a religious instrumental at...

• Perry Education Association v. Perry Local Educators' Association (1983)

  Perry Education Association v. Perry Local Educators’ Association (1983) used the public forum doctrine to define First Amendment rights granted on government...

• Pleasant Grove v. Summum (2009)

  Pleasant Grove v. Summum (2009) determined a city could refuse to place a monument in a public park because it was a form of government speech immune from First...

• Rosenberger v. Rectors and Visitors of the University of Virginia (1995)

  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...

• Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad (1975)

  Southeastern Promotions v. Conrad (1975) said a city's denial of theater space for a performance of the controversial musical Hair violated the First Amendment...

• United States v. Grace (1983)

  In 1983, the Supreme Court ruled that a federal law that prohibited picketing outside the U.S. Supreme Court building was improperly applied to the sidewalks in...

• United States v. Kokinda (1990)

  In 1990, the Supreme Court upheld a federal regulation that prohibited solicitation on post office property, including the sidewalks outside. In United States v...

• Widmar v. Vincent (1981)

  Widmar v. Vincent (1981) said that prohibiting religious use of the University of Missouri's buildings while allowing secular use violated the First Amendment...