Opinion ID: 201653
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Massachusetts' Need to Regulate the Lawmaking Act

Text: 13 The communicative power of an initiative stems precisely from the fact that it is not just speech; it is a process that can lead to the creation of new laws or constitutional amendments. Massachusetts urges us to hold that its restrictions on the amendment process do not regulate speech qua speech, and thus do not trigger strict scrutiny under the First Amendment. 14 Government actions that are aimed at some goal other than restricting the conveyance of ideas are generally permissible, even if they incidentally inhibit free speech. See, e.g., Arcara v. Cloud Books, Inc., 478 U.S. 697, 106 S.Ct. 3172, 92 L.Ed.2d 568 (1986) (upholding the closure of an adult bookstore because prostitution was taking place on the premises). Arcara is a prototypical example of this type of case, because the law in question only regulated a specific type of conduct—prostitution—which did not implicate speech. However, even a law seemingly entirely removed from speech can have effects on speech. In Arcara, for example, the prohibition on prostitution resulted in the closure of a book store. Enforcement of a prohibition with such incidental effects does not, however, implicate the First Amendment, and this type of law need only survive rationality review. 15 Plaintiffs do not cite to any precedent for the proposition that, under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, a state may not restrict the subjects that can be addressed through its initiative process. The D.C. Circuit addressed a similar free speech challenge to a restriction on an initiative process in the case of Marijuana Policy Project v. United States, 304 F.3d 82 (D.C.Cir.2002). In that case, the D.C. Circuit held that a statute precluding the use of the D.C. ballot initiative process to lower drug penalties did not unconstitutionally restrict free speech rights of medical marijuana advocates, but only shifted the forum of debate from the District of Columbia to Congress. Id. at 85-86. The court explained that although the First Amendment protects public debate about legislation, it confers no right to legislate on a particular subject. Id. at 85. Massachusetts argues that we should adopt this reasoning to apply rational basis review in the instant case. 16