Opinion ID: 470078
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: school newspapers as a limited public forum

Text: 27 The Board first contends that the school newspapers fall into the third category of forums, non-public forums. We disagree, and hold that the newspapers fall into the second category, limited public forums. In deciding whether a particular forum is a limited public forum or a nonpublic forum, we must determine what type of forum the government intended to create. Cornelius, 105 S.Ct. at 3449. The government's intent is evidenced by [its] policy and practice ... [as well as] the nature of the property and its compatibility with expressive activity. Id. 28 In the case before us, the evidence clearly indicates an intent to create a limited public forum. Newspapers, including the Board's, are devoted entirely to expressive activity. Everything that appears in a newspaper is speech, whether commercial, political, artistic, or some other type. It is difficult to think of any other kind of property that is more compatible with expressive activity. In addition, the admitted policy and practice of the Board is to allow a particular group--the students--to discuss any topic in the newspapers, subject only to certain conditions not relevant to the issues before us. Thus, under the test enumerated in Cornelius, the Board's newspapers, like most other school papers, constitute, at a minimum, a limited public forum of the type found in Widmar. See supra pp. 1475-76. 29 The Board also allows non-students to use the forum it has created in the newspapers. The Board's admitted policy and practice is to allow members of the general public to avail themselves of the forum as long as their speech consists of advertisements offering goods, services, or vocational opportunities to students. Because the newspapers are open to the entire public for the discussion of these limited topics, the Board has also created a limited public forum of the type found in City of Madison. See supra pp. 1475-76. 6 30 As a result, the dispute between the Board and CARD reduces itself to a debate over the precise limitations on the topics that may be discussed by non-students in the limited public forum the Board has created. The Board argues that it permits non-students to engage only in non-political commercial speech in the newspapers. It claims that the military service advertisements were non-political, but that CARD's ad is not. The district court, agreed with the Board and found that the military service advertisements published in the newspapers (1) offered vocational or career opportunities to students and (2) were non-political. 31 We agree with the first part of the district court's finding but disagree with the second. The advertisements regarding military service career opportunities are different from most career ads in several important respects. First, most career ads are commercial in nature. They involve the advertiser's economic interests. Central Hudson Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Service Commission, 447 U.S. 557, 561, 100 S.Ct. 2343, 2348, 65 L.Ed.2d 341 (1980). The commercial speech doctrine rests heavily on the 'common sense' distinction between speech proposing a commercial transaction and other varieties of speech. Zauderer v. Office of Disciplinary Counsel, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 2265, 2275, 85 L.Ed.2d 652 (1985) (quoting Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Ass'n, 436 U.S. 447, 455-56, 98 S.Ct. 1912, 1918-19, 56 L.Ed.2d 444 (1978)). Here, the government's interest in promoting military service is not an economic one; it is essentially political or governmental. Nor is any commercial transaction being proposed. 32 Second, it has long been recognized that the subject of military service is controversial and political in nature. There has been opposition to military service, both compulsory and voluntary, throughout our nation's history. See, e.g., United States v. Seeger, 380 U.S. 163, 85 S.Ct. 850, 13 L.Ed.2d 733 (1965) (discussing history of conscientious objection). Opposition to compulsory service--the draft--is often simply a manifestation of a more deeply rooted opposition to military service in any form. See, e.g., Wayte v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 1524, 84 L.Ed.2d 547 (1985); Welsh v. United States, 398 U.S. 333, 90 S.Ct. 1792, 26 L.Ed.2d 308 (1970); Sicurella v. United States, 348 U.S. 385, 75 S.Ct. 403, 99 L.Ed. 436 (1955). The controversy over military service led to student protests in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Many of our nation's finest universities and colleges barred military recruiters from their campuses and terminated the Reserve Officer Training Corps programs they had previously offered. For other manifestations of the controversy over voluntary and involuntary military service, see, e.g., In re Summers, 325 U.S. 561, 65 S.Ct. 1307, 89 L.Ed. 1795 (1945) (attorney could properly be denied admission to state bar because of his opposition to military service); United States v. Schwimmer, 279 U.S. 644, 49 S.Ct. 448, 73 L.Ed. 889 (1929) (alien could properly be denied citizenship due to opposition to military service); United States v. Macintosh, 283 U.S. 605, 51 S.Ct. 570, 75 L.Ed. 1302 (1931) (same); United States v. Bland, 283 U.S. 636, 51 S.Ct. 569, 75 L.Ed. 1319 (1931) (same); Girouard v. United States, 328 U.S. 61, 66 S.Ct. 826, 90 L.Ed. 1084 (1946) (overruling Schwimmer, Macintosh, and Bland ). 33 One need not agree with those opposed to military service in order to recognize the fact that there is indeed a well-established and continuing controversy surrounding the subject. The ads sponsored by the military advanced the position taken by the proponents of one side to that political dispute. Accordingly, the district court erred when it found that the military recruitment advertisements were non-political. 7 34 Thus, the Board has allowed certain members of the public--various military recruiters--to use its newspapers to engage in speech that is not essentially commercial in nature but that combines elements of political and commercial speech. As a result, the Board's actual policy and practice leads, under Cornelius, to the conclusion that the Board has established the school newspapers as a limited public forum in which students can discuss any topic, and in which non-students can engage in commercial speech generally and in speech which is both political and commercial with respect to at least one important and highly controversial topic--military service. Because the Board on a number of occasions permitted the publication of advertisements advocating military service, there can be no question but that the Board intended to open the newspapers for advertisements on this topic--at least by one side to the debate. 35 CARD's advertisement comes within the boundaries of the limited public forum the Board has created. Having established a limited public forum, the Board cannot, absent a compelling governmental interest, exclude speech otherwise within the boundaries of the forum. See supra pp. 1475-1476. In particular, the Board cannot allow the presentation of one side of an issue, but prohibit the presentation of the other side. City of Madison, 429 U.S. at 175-76, 97 S.Ct. at 426-27. Here, the Board permitted mixed political and commercial speech advocating military service, but attempted to bar the same type of speech opposing such service. 8 The Board has failed to advance a compelling governmental interest justifying its conduct. Accordingly, the Board violated the First Amendment when it excluded CARD's advertisements from the newspapers. 9