Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/17pdf/16-1140_5368.pdf
Page Number: 10.0

6 

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FAMILY AND 
LIFE ADVOCATES v. BECERRA
 
Opinion of the Court 

injunction.

The  Court  of  Appeals  for  the  Ninth  Circuit  affirmed. 
National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Harris, 
839 F. 3d 823, 845 (2016).  After concluding that petition-
ers’  challenge  to  the  FACT  Act  was  ripe,1  id.,  at  833,  the 
Ninth Circuit held that petitioners could not show a like-
lihood  of  success  on  the  merits. 
It  concluded  that  the 
licensed  notice  survives  the  “lower  level  of  scrutiny”  that
applies to regulations of “professional speech.”  Id., at 833– 
842.  And it concluded that the unlicensed notice satisfies 
any level of scrutiny.  See id., at 843–844. 

We  granted  certiorari  to  review  the  Ninth  Circuit’s
decision.  583 U. S. ___ (2017).  We reverse with respect to 
both notice requirements. 

We first address the licensed notice.2
 

II
 

A 
The First Amendment, applicable to the States through
the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  prohibits  laws  that  abridge
the  freedom  of  speech.    When  enforcing  this  prohibition, 
our  precedents  distinguish  between  content-based  and 
content-neutral  regulations  of  speech.    Content-based 
regulations  “target  speech  based  on  its  communicative
content.”  Reed  v.  Town  of  Gilbert,  576  U. S.  ___,  ___ 
(2015) (slip op., at 6).  As a general matter, such laws “are 
presumptively  unconstitutional  and  may  be  justified  only 
if  the  government  proves  that  they  are  narrowly  tailored
to serve compelling state interests.”  Ibid.  This stringent
standard  reflects  the  fundamental  principle  that  govern-

—————— 

1 We agree with the Ninth Circuit’s ripeness determination. 
2 Petitioners  raise  serious  concerns  that  both  the  licensed  and  unli-
censed  notices  discriminate  based  on  viewpoint.    Because  the  notices 
are unconstitutional either way, as explained below, we need not reach
that issue.