First Amendment

• The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the people from Congressional intrusion upon their their rights to speak freely and assemble peaceably. However, the Supreme Court has interpreted the First Amendment as applying not only to acts of Congress, but to all acts of federal and state governments. However, where speech or actions related to speech seem likely to create a substantial danger to the peace or the public, the government does have the right to limit such speech, provided that it does so in the most limited manner required to prevent the danger.
  
  

Conduct vs. Content

• First Amendment law distinguishes between government regulation of content and conduct. When the government seeks to regulate the actual content of speech (meaning, what the speaker is saying), the government's action will be strictly scrutinized by courts; such regulation is rarely upheld. However, when the government merely seeks to regulate conduct that's related to speech (meaning, how the speech is made) such "conduct regulation" will receive a lower level of scrutiny.
  
  

Time, Place, Manner

• The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the government may restrict the time, place and manner of speech. However, this "conduct regulation" must not depend on the content of the speech; it must be "content-neutral." For instance, the government typically may not impose time, place and manner restrictions on speech about one issue, without imposing similar restrictions on speech about other issues. However, even if the regulation is content-neutral, the Court has enumerated requirements for that regulation to be valid.
  
  

Type of Forum

• When the speech to be regulated is in a non-public forum (meaning, a place not typically used for public speech), the government regulation need only be reasonably related to a legitimate purpose for regulation. This constitutes a relatively low level of scrutiny, and such regulations are usually upheld by courts. However, when conduct regulation attempts to restrict conduct that will take place in a public forum, the level of judicial scrutiny is much more strict. The Court has ruled that conduct regulation in public forums must be "narrowly tailored to achieve an important government interest." Examples of Court-approved time, place and manner restrictions in public forums include a law that creates a perimeter for picketers around abortion clinics; a law that prohibits picketing outside public schools while the schools are in session; and a law that demands that demonstrators acquire a city permit before demonstrations.