Court Opinion

ID: 9477307
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 06:19:49.530432+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:45:48.445405
License: Public Domain

ESCHBACH, Senior Circuit Judge,
concurring.
Although I concur in the result reached by the court, I write separately to make two points. First, although I believe that the holding in Rowan v. United States Post Office Department, 397 U.S. 728, 90 S.Ct. 1484, 25 L.Ed.2d 736 (1970) is relevant here and much of its analysis helpful, I do not find it dispositive. Careful examination of the analysis in Rowan reveals that its holding was founded on the implied but obvious determination that the federal statute at issue there was content neutral in that it involved no “... discretionary evaluation of the material [by] a governmental official.” The Illinois statute at issue in the present case cannot be construed as content neutral because it clearly proscribes one type of communication (real estate solicitations) and mandates criminal penalties for violation of that proscription. For that reason I believe Rowan to be distinguishable from this case.
I must also point out that while I neither agree nor disagree with the observations set forth in the final four pages of the majority opinion pertaining to the subjects of judicial restraint and the proper role of the federal judiciary, I do not believe those views are necessary to the proper disposition of this case. Therefore, I expressly decline to join in them.