Opinion ID: 2973521
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Free Speech Rights May Be Given Up

Text: Most individually held constitutional rights may be waived, if done knowingly, intelligently, and with sufficient awareness of relevant circumstances and likely consequences. See Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742, 748 (1970) (recognizing waiver of the constitutional right to a trial in a criminal case); Leonard, 12 F.3d at 889-90 (upholding a contractual waiver of First Amendment rights where it was knowing, voluntary, and intelligent); Erie Telecomms. v. Erie, 853 F.2d 1084, 1096 (3d Cir. 1988) (“constitutional rights, like rights and privileges of lesser importance, may be contractually waived where the facts and circumstances surrounding the waiver make it clear that Nos. 03-5245/5278 Brentwood Acad. v. Tenn. Secondary Page 29 Sch. Athletic Ass’n et al. the party foregoing its rights has done so of its own volition, with full understanding of the consequences of its waiver”). The power to waive individually held constitutional rights extends to First Amendment speech-related protections. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that contractual waivers of free speech protections may be judicially enforced. In Snepp v. United States, the Supreme Court held that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was not barred by the First Amendment from enforcing an employment agreement that required CIA employees to get its permission before publishing writings about agency activities. 444 U.S. 507, 507-511 (1980). The Court upheld this prior restraint on speech in part because the CIA employee in that case had voluntarily signed the employment agreement. See id. at 510-11. Similarly, in Rust v. Sullivan, the Court upheld the federal government’s restriction on the abortion-related speech of staff members working for doctors receiving Title X funds. 500 U.S. 173 (1991). The Court upheld this restriction because it was “a consequence of [the staff members’] decision to accept employment.” Id. at 199. The Third, Fourth, and Ninth circuits have also honored contractual waivers of First Amendment rights contained in contracts with state actors. Erie Telecomms., 853 F.2d at 1094-98 (upholding a cable company’s waiver of First Amendment rights in a franchise agreement with a city); Lake James Cmty. Volunteer Fire Dep’t., Inc. v. Burke County, 149 F.3d 277, 280-82 (4th Cir. 1998) (holding enforceable a Fire Department’s “limited waiver” of some First Amendment rights in a contract with a county government); Leonard, 12 F.3d at 889-92 (upholding a labor union’s waiver of some First Amendment rights to a city as provided in a collective bargaining agreement). While these cases demonstrate that constitutional rights can be bargained away, they do not begin to cover all the possibilities. Some constitutional rights are so obviously alienable that no one would challenge the idea. To become a prison guard, a person may give up the right to be out of the prison premises for eight hours a day. To become a judge, a person may give up the right to solicit charitable contributions. To become a flight attendant, a person may give up the right to refrain from speaking before the plane takes off. And so on. Again, this is not to say that such persons give up all free expression rights, but they certainly give up some.