Opinion ID: 772102
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Free Speech Challenges

Text: 10 Plaintiffs contend that the ordinance's requirement that canvassers register prior to canvassing fails the Free Speech Clause analysis both facially and as applied to them. Predictably, much of their argument is dedicated to attempting to convince us that the ordinance is subject to strict scrutiny. And as equally predictable, the Village dedicates a large portion of its brief to arguing that the ordinance is subject to some lower level of scrutiny.
11 As an initial matter, we note that the Supreme Court has not set forth a framework for determining what level of scrutiny to apply to laws that require an individual to obtain a permit prior to going door-to-door. It has, however, established a framework for answering the question in the context of laws requiring an individual to obtain a permit prior to engaging in speech in a public forum. See Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement, 505 U.S. 123 (1992). We conclude that the analytical framework set forth there applies to this ordinance as well. We reach this conclusion because, in discussing what standard applied to the County's ordinance, the Court characterized its analysis as one of whether the law's restrictions on speech were reasonable in the context of time, place, and manner. As that analysis applies to all laws through which government regulates oral or written expression, see Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence, 468 U.S. 288, 299 n.8 (1984), and the ordinance regulates oral and written expression, it is subject to the reasonable, time, place, and manner analysis 4 . 12 Under that framework, a law that is content based is subject to strict scrutiny. See Turner Broad. Sys., Inc. v. Federal Communications Comm'n, 512 U.S. 622, 642 (1994). On the other hand, a law that is content neutral and of general applicability is subject to some form of intermediate scrutiny. See Community for Creative Non-Violence, 468 U.S. at 293. 13 Using that framework, the district court determined that the ordinance was content neutral and of general applicability and therefore subject to intermediate scrutiny. Plaintiffs argue that the district court erred and urge us to review the ordinance under strict scrutiny. Strict scrutiny applies, they argue, because the ordinance potentially infringes upon two constitutionally protected rights--freedom of speech and freedom of religion--thereby making their claim a hybrid rights claim. And, they continue, the Supreme Court in Employment Division v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990),established that such claims subject the law in question to strict scrutiny. Hybrid rights claims aside, they argue, strict scrutiny applies because the ordinance discriminates based on the content of the speech. That discrimination is evidenced by the reference to Jehovah's Witnesses in the No Solicitation Form and the Mayor's testimony that he would not furnish Jehovah's Witnesses with an exemption from the time restraints. In either case, they conclude, we must apply strict scrutiny when reviewing the ordinance. 14 We cannot agree. Our review of the ordinance leads us to conclude it is content neutral and of general applicability, and hence, subject to intermediate scrutiny. A law is content neutral and of general applicability if on its face and in its purpose it does not make a distinction between favored and disfavored speech. See Turner Broad., 512 U.S. at 642-50. On its face, there is no indication that the ordinance distinguishes between favored and disfavored speech; it requires all individuals seeking to canvass to register irrespective of the content of their message. See Heffron v. International Soc'y for Krishna Consciousness, Inc., 452 U.S. 640, 649 (1981). Nor do we find any evidence that the Village's purpose in promulgating the ordinance was to regulate speech based on the message it conveys. Instead, our review indicates that the Village's principal objective in promulgating the ordinance was to prevent fraud and protect the privacy interests of the residents of the Village. See Ward v. Rock Against Racism, 491 U.S. 781, 792 (1989). 15 The evidence plaintiffs cite in support of their argument misses the mark. That the No Solicitation Form listed Jehovah's Witnesses is not evidence that the Village's purpose in promulgating the ordinance was to restrict their speech; rather, it is evidence of the Village's administration of the ordinance. And that evidence does not indicate that the Village applied the ordinance unequally. It may simply be that Jehovah's Witnesses, along with the other organizations listed on the form, canvassed or solicited more frequently than other groups, thereby making it efficient to place their name on the form. Likewise, the testimony of the Mayor that he would not grant Jehovah's Witnesses an exemption from the ordinance's hours restriction is not evidence of the purpose of the Village in promulgating the ordinance. Nor is it evidence of the Village's application of the ordinance, as plaintiffs have not applied for an exemption. We do note, as the district court did, that were we to find disparate treatment in the granting of exemptions from the time restraints, we would be troubled. However, as our review finds nothing of the sort, we believe the ordinance is neutral on its face and the Village's purpose in promulgating it was content neutral. Therefore, we hold that it is subject to intermediate scrutiny. 16 In so holding, we reject plaintiffs' assertion that the Supreme Court established in Employment Division v. Smith that laws challenged by hybrid rights claims are subject to strict scrutiny. While much debate has revolved around the Court's language in Smith, we do not believe the Court held there, nor has it ever held, that a different level of scrutiny applies to laws that potentially affect hybrid rights. In rejecting the plaintiffs' argument that 'prohibiting the free exercise [of religion]' includes requiring any individual to observe a generally applicable law, the Smith Court noted, 17 The only decisions in which we have held that the First Amendment bars application of a neutral, generally applicable law to religiously motivated action have involved not the Free Exercise Clause alone, but the Free Exercise Clause in conjunction with other constitutional protections, such as freedom of speech and of the press . . . . 18 Smith, 494 U.S. at 878, 881. That language was dicta and therefore not binding. Further, as we held in Kissingerv. Board of Trustees of the Ohio State University, 5 F.3d 177, 180 (6th Cir. 1993), aside from the fact that the Smith Court did not hold that a hybrid rights claim subjects a law to a higher level of scrutiny, the Court did not explain how a hybrid rights claim would alter the level of scrutiny (we note that the one probably had a lot to do with the other). Based in part upon the lack of an explanation from the Court, we declined to alter the standard of scrutiny for laws affecting hybrid rights until the Supreme Court provided guidance. The Court has yet to provide such guidance, and therefore, we adhere to our decision inKissinger and continue to decline to alter the standard of scrutiny. Accordingly, the district court was correct to subject the ordinance to intermediate scrutiny in analyzing the merits of plaintiffs' free speech claims.
19 It bears emphasis that, contrary to plaintiffs' assertions, Supreme Court dicta is not on their side. On numerous occasions the Court has strongly suggested that registration schemes such as the Village's would pass constitutional muster. 20 Nothing we have said is intended even remotely to imply that, under the cloak of religion, persons may, with impunity, commit frauds upon the public. . . . Without doubt a state may protect its citizens from fraudulent solicitation by requiring a stranger in the community, before permitting him publicly to solicit funds for any purpose, to establish his identity and his authority to act for the cause which he purports to represent. 21 Cantwell, 310 U.S. at 306; see also Martin v. City of Struthers, 319 U.S. 141, 148 & n.14 (1943) (making clear that a city can by identification devices control the abuse of the privilege by criminals posing as canvassers) 5 . 22 We begin our review with a brief discussion of the differences between as applied and facial challenges. If a statute is unconstitutional as applied, the State may continue to enforce the statute in different circumstances where it is not unconstitutional, but if a statute is unconstitutional on its face, the State may not enforce the statute under any circumstances. Women's Med. Prof'l Corp. v. Voinovich, 130 F.3d 187, 193 (6th Cir. 1997). Consequently, a plaintiff's burden in an as-applied challenge is different from that in a facial challenge. In an as-applied challenge, the plaintiff contends that application of the statute in the particular context in which he has acted, or in which he proposes to act, would be unconstitutional. Id. Generally, a plaintiff's burden in a facial challenge is higher: the plaintiff must prove that there is no set of circumstances in which the statute's application would be constitutional. See id. at 194. That is not the case, however, when the statute regulates speech. Because the remedy for successful facial challenges is broader in scope, we begin our analysis there. 23
24 In a facial challenge to the overbreadth and vagueness of a law, the court's first task is to determine whether the enactment reaches a substantial amount of constitutionally protected conduct. If it does not, then the overbreadth challenge must fail. The court should then examine the facial vagueness challenge . . . . Village of Hoffman Estates v. Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc., 455 U.S. 489, 494 (1982). We proceed accordingly. 25
26 Plaintiffs argue the ordinance is unconstitutionally overbroad because it would have the effect of prohibiting individuals from going door-to-door to engage in political speech without first obtaining a permit. An effect, they allege, the Supreme Court effectively made unconstitutional in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission, 514 U.S. 334 (1995), by invalidating an Ohio statute that prohibited the distribution of anonymous campaign literature. Because requiring individuals engaging in political speech to register before going door-to-door would effectively prevent them from remaining anonymous, they conclude, the ordinance is unconstitutional. They are mistaken. 27 McIntyre's holding misses Stratton's ordinance. The McIntyre Court established a First Amendment right to distribute political pamphlets anonymously. See id. at 357. We agree that read broadly, the opinion arguably includes in that right the ability to speak to others anonymously. But we do not understand how Stratton's ordinance inhibits this right. As we see it, individuals going door-to-door to engage in political speech are not anonymous by virtue of the fact that they reveal a portion of their identities--their physical identities--to the residents they canvass. In other words, the ordinance does not require canvassers going door-to-door to reveal their identities; instead, the very act of going door-to-door requires the canvassers to reveal a portion of their identities. 28 While the ordinance requires political canvassers to reveal the remainder of their identities, i.e., their names, we do not believe that requirement rises to the level of impinging on First Amendment protected speech the Court sought to protect by fashioning the right in McIntyre. By creating a right of anonymity, the Court sought to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation--and their ideas from suppression. Id. Once the political canvassers are before the resident, the ability to protect them from those dangers is substantially diminished. Accordingly, there is little reason to read the Court's holding as protecting political canvassers from being required to reveal a portion of their identities when their very activity will reveal other portions of their identity and subject them to scrutiny. 6 29
30 A law is unconstitutionally vague when it does not afford a person of ordinary intelligence a reasonable opportunity to know what is prohibited, Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 109 (1972), or when it authorizes or encouragers arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement, see Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352, 357 (1983). Put more specifically, a statute is vague when the state has fail[ed] to provide such minimal guidelines that would prevent a standardless sweep [that] allows policemen, prosecutors, and juries to pursue their personal predilections. Kolender, 461 U.S. at 358 (quoting Smithv. Goguen, 415 U.S. 566, 575 (1974)) (alterations in the original). The ordinance is such a law, plaintiffs contend, because the meanings of the terms solicitor, canvasser, and cause are not clear. They offer no explanation for why solicitor and canvasser are vague; but contend that the Supreme Court has found the term cause to be vague. 31 We find no merit in any of these assertions. Only the last assertion requires any explanation. According to plaintiffs, the Supreme Court's decision in Hynes v. Mayor & Council of the Borough of Oradell, 425 U.S. 610 (1976), established that the word 'cause' is unconstitutionally vague. Specifically, they point to footnote five of the opinion which states, In the circumstances of this case these allegations are enough to put in issue the precision or lack of precision with which the ordinance defines the categories of 'causes' it covers. Hynes, 425 U.S. at 621 n.5 (emphasis added). The language plaintiffs quote defeats their argument. As the language indicates, in finding the ordinance vague, the Supreme Court did not criticize the use of the word cause, rather it criticized the ordinance's modification of the word with the phrases recognized charitable and Federal, State, County or Municipal. Specifically, the Court stated that the ordinance does not explain, for example, whether 'Recognized charitable cause' means one recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as tax exempt, or one recognized by some community agency . . . [and] it is not clear what is meant by a 'Federal, State, County, or Municipal' cause. Id. at 621. Because Stratton's ordinance does not modify the term cause but includes all causes, the holding of and the reasoning in Hynes is not applicable. 32
33 In the context of an as applied challenge, a law requiring registration prior to engaging in speech would pass intermediate scrutiny if it were narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest and left open ample alternatives for communication. See Nationalist Movement, 505 U.S. at 130. If the interest is in redressing past harm or preventing anticipated harms, the government must demonstrate that the harms are real. See Edenfield v. Fane, 507 U.S. 761, 770 (1993). An anticipated harm would be considered real if we determined that there [was] a reasonable ground to fear that serious evil [would] result if free speech [were] practiced without the regulation. United States v. National Treasury Employees Union, 513 U.S. 454, 475 (1995) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted). In making this determination, we pay deference to the predictive judgments of the government. See Columbia Broad. Sys., Inc. v. Democratic Nat'l Comm., 412 U.S. 94, 103 (1973). A law would be considered narrowly tailored to promote the governmental interests if the interest would be achieved less effectively absent the regulation, Ward, 491 U.S. at 799, and the regulation does not burden substantially more speech than is necessary in furthering the interest, id. And finally, while it is unclear exactly what constitutes ample alternatives for communication, it is clear that this standard does not mean the least restrictive means ofpromoting the interest in question. See id. at 797-98. 8 34 As applied to them, plaintiffs argue, the ordinance's registration scheme does not meet these standards because it does not promote a significant government interest and is not narrowly tailored to promote the interests that the Village alleges are significant. Specifically, they argue that the Village has no significant interest to promote because (1) its interest in protecting its residents from annoyance in their homes simply is not a significant governmental interest and (2) while a government's interest in preventing fraud is significant, the Village has not shown that there is a real threat of fraud to its residents. The ordinance is not narrowly tailored, they maintain, because it does not leave open ample alternative channels of communication. Given these flaws, they conclude, we must prohibit the Village from enforcing the ordinance against them. 35 We disagree. There can be little doubt that the governmental interests the Village seeks to promote--protecting its residents from fraud and undue annoyance in their homes--are sufficiently significant. See Ward, 491 U.S. at 796; Hynes, 425 U.S. at 616-17 9 . And, the harm the Village seeks to preventcriminals posing as canvassers in order to defraud its residents--is a real threat. While the evidence of this reality is by no means overwhelming, we believe it is sufficient. That evidence consists of the testimony of Helen MacMurray, Ohio Assistant Attorney General; the Village's Mayor; and Frank Bruzzese, the Village's Solicitor. In her testimony, Ms. MacMurray stated that Ohio has had difficulty with several groups that perpetrate frauds by going door-to-door posing as solicitors or canvassers. And the testimony of the Village's Mayor and its Solicitor indicate that the Village was aware of problems in other Ohio cities with door-to-door fraud when it passed the ordinance. Plaintiffs argue the fact that Ohio has had problems with such fraud is insufficient to establish a real anticipated harm; they would instead require that Stratton itself have had problems with fraud before it could promulgate an ordinance to prevent fraud. That argument ignores the fact that the interest the ordinance promotes is preventing ananticipated harm. If we required the Village to wait until it had trouble with door-to-door fraud, we would be depriving it of a police power the Supreme Court has made clear municipalities possess. It also ignores the principle reaffirmed by the Supreme Court's holding in City of Erie v. Pap's A.M., 529 U.S. 277, 298 (2000), that a city may use evidence from the experiences of other cities that are similarly situated to establish a reasonable ground to believe that an anticipated harm is real. See also City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc., 475 U.S. 41, 51-53 (1986). As municipalities may take the experiences of other municipalities into account, we pay deference to the Village's predictive judgment and the district court's finding in substance that there [was] a reasonable ground to fear that serious evil [would] result if free speech [were] practiced without the ordinance. National Treasury Employees Union, 513 U.S. at 475. Accordingly, the Village was entitled to promulgate an ordinance that was narrowly tailored to promote its interests in preventing fraud and in protecting its residents from unwanted annoyance. 36 And from our review of the record, we believe that is what the Village did. The ordinance promotes the Village's interest in protecting the privacy of its residents by creating additional deterrents for canvassers, including Jehovah's Witnesses, who are considering ignoring a resident's wishes and canvassing the resident's home. A Jehovah's Witness is more likely to respect the resident's wishes not to be canvassed when a criminal penalty--albeit a light penalty--is connected to such conduct in addition to the threat of civil action. Thus, the penalty attached to canvassing the house of a resident with a No Solicitation Sign more effectively promotes the Village's interest. The ordinance's registration requirements also likely deter Jehovah's Witnesses from canvassing homes with No Solicitation Signs and forms because they are aware that the Village now has information--name, address, organization or cause--helpful in apprehending someone who ignores a resident's wishes. The extra deterrence the ordinance creates promotes the Village's interest in protecting its residents from undue annoyance and that interest would be achieved less effectively absent the [ordinance]. Ward, 491 U.S. at 799. 37 As to the latter method of furthering the interest--the registration requirement--the dissent misstates the issue. It is not whether the requirement deters by increasing the degree of punishment. Rather it is whether the requirement increases the likelihood of punishment. It does. 38 The Village's interest in preventing fraud would also be achieved less effectively absent the ordinance. Absent a registration requirement, the Village has no way of assessing whether canvassers are in fact affiliated with an organization such as Jehovah's Witnesses or are insteadperpetrators of fraud using a Jehovah's Witnesses claim as cover. Requiring the individuals to identify themselves as having a relationship with the organization provides the Village with information helpful in making this assessment. Consequently, the ordinance better equips the Village in its attempt to turn away perpetrators posing as Jehovah's Witnesses. Moreover, the requirements go further than anti-fraud laws in deterring such individuals from committing fraud because they know the Village has information that would make it easier to apprehend them were they to do so. 39 We believe the dissent misunderstands our reasoning and the effect of the registration requirement. Its argument that the requirement burdens substantially more speech than necessary because it requires registration not only for those wishing to engage in sales transactions--a possible avenue for fraud--but also for those wishing to engage in political, religious, or social advocacy assumes too much. First, it assumes that the only avenue for engaging in fraud is posing as a sales person. That need not be the only avenue. Second, it assumes that one who intends to engage in fraud by posing as a sales person would be honest enough to inform the Village that he was intending to pose as a sales person and thus would register as such. That is not necessarily the case. It is also possible that the criminal would inform the Village that he was going to engage in political, religious, or social advocacy in order to avoid the registration requirement. It would be nice if the Village had the ability to discern in advance who, or what type of groups, will commit fraud. However, it does not. And absent such ability, the Village does not burden substantially more speech than necessary by requiring all individuals seeking to go door-to-door to register. 40 Moving to the final requirement of intermediate scrutiny, we believe that the ordinance leaves open ample alternatives of communication. Indeed, the ordinance does not foreclose the option of going door-to-door; one only need register first. Plaintiffs' argument that the ordinance effectively forecloses that option to them because of their religious convictions, as we will discuss below, is foreclosed by the Court's decision in Employment Division v. Smith. 10 Further, there are several alternatives to door-to-door canvassing: Jehovah's Witnesses may spread their message at stores, on street corners, in restaurants, in parks, and other public forums. 41 This is not to say, as the dissent suggests we are holding, that meeting the ample alternatives requirement alone is sufficient to pass constitutional muster. Indeed, if that were the case, we would have foregone the rest of the analysis, evaluated the alternatives available to Jehovah's Witnesses, and called it a day. 42 As the ordinance satisfies the ample alternatives as well as the other requirements of intermediate scrutiny, we hold that the ordinance does not violate plaintiffs' free speech rights.