Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/17pdf/16-1140_5368.pdf
Page Number: 50

24 

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FAMILY AND 

LIFE ADVOCATES v. BECERRA
 
BREYER, J., dissenting 

requires facilities to write their “medical license” disclaim-
ers in 13 languages.  Ante, at 19.  As I understand the Act, 
it  would  require  disclosure  in  no  more  than  two  lan-
guages—English  and  Spanish—in  the  vast  majority  of 
California’s  58  counties.    The  exception  is  Los  Angeles 
County,  where,  given  the  large  number  of  different-
language  speaking  groups,  expression  in  many  languages 
may prove necessary to communicate the message to those 
whom  that  message  will  help.    Whether  the  requirement 
of 13 different languages goes too far and is unnecessarily 
burdensome  in  light  of  the  need  to  secure  the  statutory 
objectives  is  a  matter  that  concerns  Los  Angeles  County 
alone, and it is a proper subject for a Los Angeles-based as 
applied  challenge  in  light  of  whatever  facts  a  plaintiff 
finds relevant.  At most, such facts might show a need for 
fewer languages, not invalidation of the statute. 

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* 

* 
For  these  reasons  I  would  not  hold  the  California  stat-
ute  unconstitutional  on  its  face,  I  would  not  require  the 
District Court to issue a preliminary injunction forbidding 
its enforcement, and I respectfully dissent from the major-
ity’s contrary conclusions.