Opinion ID: 1609069
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Limitations Imposed by the First Amendment are Applicable In the Present Matter

Text: The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech. U.S. Const. amend. I. In a series of cases, the Supreme Court has held, that the liberty of speech and of the press which the First Amendment guarantees against abridgement by the federal government is within the liberty safeguarded by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment from invasion by state action. First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, 435 U.S. 765, 779, 98 S.Ct. 1407, 1417, 55 L.Ed.2d 707 (1978). The Louisiana Supreme Court is a state entity. [11] Acting under its constitutional and inherent authority, the Court has adopted La. S.Ct. Rule XIX, § 16(A) and (I), provisions which, on their face, abridge speech regarding attorney disciplinary proceedings. La. S.Ct. Rule XIX, § 1 (Under the authority of Article V, Section 5(A) and (B) of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 and the inherent power of this court ... the following Rules for Lawyer Disciplinary Enforcement be and are hereby adopted.). Thus the protections of the First Amendment are applicable in the instant matter.