Opinion ID: 772102
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whether the Ordinance is Unconstitutional

Text: 44 We reach the same conclusion with respect to plaintiffs' free exercise challenges. Other than arguments that the ordinance fails strict scrutiny, plaintiffs offer no arguments for why the ordinance violates their free exercise rights. 45 Instead, they cite a handful of Supreme Court cases all of which, they claim, stand for the proposition that the Supreme Court has continuously held that Jehovah's Witnesses cannot be required to obtain apermit in order to engage in door-to-door religious speech. And that [i]n not one [of those cases] did the Supreme Court hold that Jehovah's Witnesses must obtain a permit prior to engaging in door-to-door dissemination of Bible-based ideas or literature. That is probably because few of those cases involved an ordinance requiring such a permit. Instead, many of the ordinances flatly prohibited the dissemination of ideas either in a public forum or door-to-door. See Marsh v. Alabama, 326 U.S. 501, 504 (1946);Martin, 319 U.S. at 142; Schneider v. New Jersey, 308 U.S. 147, 154, 156, (1939). The ordinances that did require a permit, unlike the Village's ordinance, left the decision whether to grant the permit at the discretion of a municipal officer.See Tucker v. Texas, 326 U.S. 517, 519 (1946); Cantwell, 310 U.S. at 302; Schneider, 308 U.S. at 158; Lovell, 303 U.S. at 451. In short, contrary to plaintiffs' assertions, not one of these cases mandates a finding that the ordinance violates their free exercise rights. 46 Nor does a general review of the ordinance under current law warrant such a finding. Under recent Supreme Court precedent, a law that is content neutral and of general applicability does not violate an individual's free exercise rights. SeeSmith, 494 U.S. at 879; Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520, 531-32 (1993). One that is not content neutral or not of general applicability, on the other hand, must pass strict judicial scrutiny. See Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, 508 U.S. at 531-32. 47 We find the law to be both content neutral and of general applicability. In the context of free exercise challenges, a law is not content neutral if the object of the law is to infringe upon or restrict religious practices because of their religious motivation. Id. at 532. To determine whether the law has such an object, we look to the language of the law; the operation of the law; and how officials apply the law. See id. at 532-35. A law is facially content based if it refers to a religious practice without a discernable secular meaning. See id. at 532. The ordinance does not. While the No Solicitation Form did refer specifically to Jehovah's Witnesses, it is not part of the text of the ordinance. Further, the district court ordered the Village to remove that language. The ordinance is also neutral in its operation; it imposes the same burdens on all individuals or organizations seeking to canvass door-to-door. See id. at 535. Finally, we believe that the Village officials have applied the ordinance neutrally. There is no indication that the Mayor discriminated against religious organizations in determining whether to grant permits. Indeed, there is little room for him to make any decision once the applicant completes the Registration Form. And contrary to plaintiffs' assertion, the Mayor's statements that he would not grant Jehovah's Witnesses an exemption from the ordinance's time restrictions on canvassing does not compel a finding that he unequally applied the ordinance. He has never applied the ordinance's time restrictions to them because they have never requested an exemption from the restrictions. 48 We also find that the law is of general applicability. To be generally applicable, the law must not be the product of a government action that, in pursuit of legitimate interests, impose[s] burdens only on conduct motivated by religious belief essential to the protection of the rights guaranteed by the Free Exercise Clause. Id. at 543. The ordinance is not the product of such action. The Village has made clear that its interest was in preventing fraud and protecting its residents from undue annoyance. In pursuing these ends, the ordinance burdens any individualseeking to canvass door-to-door. As the ordinance is content neutral and generally applicable, we hold that it does not violate plaintiffs' free exercise rights.