Opinion ID: 1175747
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Narrowly Drawn

Text: As stated above, an injunction imposing an absolute prohibition on a particular type of expression must be narrowly drawn to serve the State's interest. United States v. Grace, 461 U.S. 171, 177, 75 L.Ed.2d 736, 103 S.Ct. 1702 (1983). See, e.g., Erznoznik v. Jacksonville, supra at 213 (restriction aimed at prohibiting youths from viewing films involving nudity impermissibly broad because not all nudity deemed obscene even as to minors). The State's interest in this case is to prevent the physical and psychological harm of young children caused by use of the proscribed words. The injunction, however, applies to all use of such words, regardless of whether children are present. Thus, it is drawn more broadly than necessary to achieve the State's interest. As stated in Stanley v. Georgia, 394 U.S. 557, 564, 22 L.Ed.2d 542, 89 S.Ct. 1243 (1969), the right to receive information and ideas, regardless of their social worth ... is fundamental to our free society. The injunction cannot water down speech to make it suitable for the sandbox. Accordingly, the injunction must be narrowed. The record in this case contains medical testimony by one of the respondent physicians that the impact of such language would be most severe on children under the age of 12. Because we are remanding the case on this point, the trial court may wish to take additional medical testimony to determine the appropriate age limit. Furthermore, because it may be difficult to ascertain whether a child is under the identified age, the trial court may wish to provide additional guidelines for determining when picketers should refrain from using the proscribed words. Regardless, the injunction must be narrowed to proscribe the offensive language only when children of the chosen age are present at the picket site.