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For other uses, see forum.

A public forum is a United States constitutional law term that describes a government-owned property which is open to public expression and assembly. United States Constitutional Law is the body of law governing the interpretation and implementation of the United States Constitution. The federal government of the United States is the central United States Governmental body established by the United States Constitution. Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without Censorship or Limitation.

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Types of forums

Forums are classified as public or nonpublic.

A public forum, also called an open forum, is open to all expression that is protected under the First Amendment. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the United States Bill of Rights that expressly prohibits the United States Congress Streets, parks, and sidewalks are considered open to public discourse by tradition and are designated as traditional public forums. The government creates a designated public forum when it intentionally opens a nontraditional forum for public discourse. Limited public forums, such as municipal meeting rooms, are nonpublic forums that have been specifically designated by the government as open to certain groups or topics. Traditional public forums cannot be changed to nonpublic forums by governments.

Public forums cannot be restricted based on content. But even public forums can be restricted as to the time, place and manner of speech. In the 1972 case Grayned v. Rockford, the Supreme Court found that "The nature of a place, 'the pattern of its normal activities, dictate the kinds of regulations of time, place, and manner that are reasonable. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. '" In determining what is reasonable, the Court stated that "[the] crucial question is whether the manner of expression is basically incompatible with the normal activity of a particular place at a particular time. " Thus, protesters have the right to march in support of a cause, but not on a public beach during the middle of the day with bullhorns.

A nonpublic forum is not specially designated as open to public expression. For example, jails, public schools, and military bases are nonpublic forums (unless declared otherwise by the government). Such forums can be restricted based on the content of the speech, but not based on viewpoint. Thus, while the government could prohibit speeches related to abortion on a military base, it could not permit a pro-life speaker while denying a pro-choice speaker (or vice versa). An

Regardless of the type of forum, any exclusion must be done on a viewpoint neutral basis. Exclusion based on the speaker’s viewpoint is unconstitutional.

Forum analysis versus government speech doctrine

In several important cases, courts have decided that what appeared to be viewpoint-based censorship in a forum was actually the government's tailoring of its own speech, which need not be viewpoint neutral, and that no forum was in fact created. Speech refers to the processes associated with the production and perception of Sounds used in Spoken language. When a governmental entity, such as a public broadcaster, employs the speech of ordinary citizens to further its goals, the government speech doctrine blocks citizens' First Amendment claims that the government set up a forum for them, and unconstitutionally suppressed speech in it. The government speech doctrine in American Constitutional Law, serves effectively to constrain the First Amendment rights of individuals

History

Prior to the legal development of substantive due process, state governments had the authority to regulate speech in public places without regard to the First Amendment. Due process (more fully due process of law) is the principle that a person has a right to receive notice and be heard in an orderly proceeding in order to protect his or her In the 1895 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court case Massachusetts v. Year 1895 ( MDCCCXCV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ( SJC) is the highest Court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Davis, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote that "For the Legislature absolutely or conditionally to forbid public speaking in a highway or public park is no more an infringement of the rights of a member of the public than for the owner of a private house to forbid it in his house. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr ( March 8, 1841 &ndash March 6, 1935) was an American Jurist who served on the Supreme " The Supreme Court unanimously upheld Holmes' opinion in the 1897 appeal Davis v. Massachusetts.

However, in 1939, Justice Owen Josephus Roberts stated that "use of the streets and public places has, from ancient times, been a part of the privileges [. . . ] of citizens. " And in 1965, Professor Harry Kalven described such places as a "public forum that the citizen can commandeer".

Usage

The decision in Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier relied on the notion of a public forum in determining the degree to which a public school newspaper that has not been determined as such a forum can be protected by the First Amendment. Hazelwood School District et al v Kuhlmeier et al, was a United States Supreme Court decision which held that Public school curricular student The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the United States Bill of Rights that expressly prohibits the United States Congress The Court decided that such newspapers are subject to a lower level of First Amendment protection than independent student newspapers established (by policy or practice) as forums for student expression.

References

See also

Civil liberties of the United States are certain inalienable rights retained by (as opposed to privileges granted to citizens of the United States under the Constitution
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