Opinion ID: 2051043
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Time, Place and Manner Regulations

Text: Nonetheless, it is well established that the government may, within reasonable bounds and absent censorial purpose, regulate audible expression in its capacity as noise. City of Ladue v. Gilleo, 512 U.S. 43, 48, 114 S.Ct. 2038, 2041, 129 L.Ed.2d 36, 43 (1994). The first amendment does not guarantee the right to communicate one's views at all times and places or in any manner that may be desired. A state may therefore impose reasonable restrictions on the time, place or manner of constitutionally protected speech occurring in a public forum. Ward, 491 U.S. at 791, 109 S.Ct. at 2753, 105 L.Ed.2d at 675. A valid time, place and manner regulation, however, must be content-neutral. A regulation is content-neutral so long as it is `justified without reference to the content of the regulated speech.' Ward, 491 U.S. at 791, 109 S.Ct. at 2753, 105 L.Ed.2d at 675, quoting Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence, 468 U.S. 288, 293, 104 S.Ct. 3065, 3069, 82 L.Ed.2d 221, 227 (1984). Generally, laws that confer benefits or impose burdens on speech without reference to the ideas or views expressed are content-neutral. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Comm'n, 512 U.S. 622, 643, 114 S.Ct. 2445, 2459, 129 L.Ed.2d 497, 518 (1994). Thus, an ordinance prohibiting the posting of signs on public property was held to be content-neutral because it applied to all signs and was silent concerning any speaker's point of view. Members of the City Council v. Taxpayers for Vincent, 466 U.S. 789, 804, 104 S.Ct. 2118, 2128, 80 L.Ed.2d 772, 786-87 (1984). A content-neutral time, place and manner regulation is subjected to what has been termed an intermediate level of scrutiny. Turner, 512 U.S. at 662, 114 S.Ct. at 2469, 129 L.Ed.2d at 530. In order to pass constitutional muster, such regulations must be narrowly tailored to serve a significant governmental interest, and must leave open ample alternative channels for communication of the information. Ward, 491 U.S. at 791, 109 S.Ct. at 2753, 105 L.Ed.2d at 675; Community for Creative Non-Violence, 468 U.S. at 293, 104 S.Ct. at 3069, 82 L.Ed.2d at 227.