WSJ May Not Understand The Laws Behind The Buffer Zone Cases, But It Hates Them
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on June 27th, 2014 11:08 pm by HL
WSJ May Not Understand The Laws Behind The Buffer Zone Cases, But It Hates Them
Despite the fact that the Supreme Court struck down Massachusetts’ abortion clinic buffer zone law, the Wall Street Journal editorial board complained that the Court didn’t go further to disallow “other restrictions on abortion protests,” inaccurately describing the majority opinion in the process.
On June 26, the Court ruled in McCullen v. Coakley that Massachusetts’ buffer zone law violated the First Amendment because it was broader than necessary to achieve the Commonwealth’s goal of promoting public safety outside of reproductive health clinics, while simultaneously declining to strike down the constitutionality of buffer zones in general. A version of the law was passed in 2000 in response to years of violent and deadly incidents outside of abortion clinics nationally and directed at Massachusetts clinics in particular. The legislature amended the law in 2007 to further help police officers enforce the law by implementing a 35-foot buffer zone around clinic entrances that prohibit anyone not on clinic business — anti-choice protestors and pro-choice supporters alike — from entering and remaining. The Court ultimately found that, while buffer zones are not unconstitutional in and of themselves, Massachusetts’ law was not narrowly-tailored enough to support the legitimate interest in promoting public safety.
Joining and writing for the four liberal justices on the Court, Roberts limited his decision to the specific facts, and the specific petitioners in McCullen, as he struck down this specific buffer zone law. For Roberts, because the named plaintiff in this case was apparently a peaceful petitioner and not the “aggressive” type of “face-to-face” protestor who created “clashes” at the entrances of the health centers, the law regulated more speech than is allowed under the public safety rationale of constitutional buffer zones. But in a June 26 editorial, the Journal completely ignored the history of violence outside of abortion clinics across the country, and argued that Roberts “missed an opportunity to clean up one of the Court’s mistakes” by failing to overturn Hill v. Colorado, a 2000 case that upheld the constitutionality of a different buffer zone law. The editorial went on to argue that the decision in McCullen “leaves too much speech in future jeopardy” because state legislatures are still free to regulate speech outside of clinics within the bounds of the First Amendment. The Journal also inaccurately claimed that Roberts confirmed that the Massachusetts law was “directed at peaceful speakers”:
In McCullen v. Coakley, Chief Justice John Roberts writes that the law unconstitutionally restricts access to public sidewalks around abortion clinics in the name of “public safety” without “seriously addressing the problem through alternatives.” By regulating public streets, the state directly foreclosed access to places that “developed as venues for the exchange of ideas.” Restrictions must be based on misconduct, not directed at peaceful speakers.
So far, so good. The problem is that the Chief’s opinion goes on to engage in contortions arguing that the Massachusetts law really wasn’t trying to restrict the “content” of speech. That’s critical because it means the law isn’t subject to strict First Amendment scrutiny. It also means that while this Massachusetts law went too far, other restrictions on abortion protests might be allowable.
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The fascinating question is why the Chief Justice refused to follow the logic of his own free-speech jurisprudence and overturn Hill v. Colorado. Perhaps he figured he would lose the four liberal Justices and thus the authority of a unanimous Court. Or perhaps he has been chastened by all of the liberal media critics who say he’s too eager to overturn precedents.
The reality is that he’s not eager enough, and thus the Court ends up with too many of these halfway decisions that reach the right outcome for what are often the wrong reasons. The First Amendment needs a more stalwart defender in the Chief Justice’s chair.
