> [Original Message] > From: Tim Erickson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > The other question that has been raised is - Is soliciting donations > "Free Speech" or "Commercial Activity?" >
In finding unconstitutional a village ordinance prohibiting certain kinds of door-to-door and on-street solicitations the Court said this in a case still cited as precedential on the subject (the "purely commercial speech" referred to by the Court is also protected speech under the First Amendment but more easily limited, especially with regard to fraud and fraudulent claims): Guy Western the West Side ______________________________________ U.S. Supreme Court SCHAUMBURG v. CITIZENS FOR BETTER ENVIRON., 444 U.S. 620 (1980) 444 U.S. 620 VILLAGE OF SCHAUMBURG v. CITIZENS FOR A BETTER ENVIRONMENT ET AL. CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT. No. 78-1335. Argued October 30, 1979. Decided February 20, 1980. Held: The ordinance in question is unconstitutionally overbroad in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Pp. 628-639. (a) Charitable appeals for funds, on the street or door to door, involve a variety of speech interests - communication of information, dissemination and propagation of views and ideas, and advocacy of causes - that are within the First Amendment's protection. While soliciting financial support is subject to reasonable regulation, such regulation must give due regard to the reality that solicitation is characteristically intertwined with informative and perhaps persuasive speech seeking support for particular causes or for particular views on economic, [444 U.S. 620, 621] political, or social issues, and to the reality that without solicitation the flow of such information and advocacy would likely cease. Moreover, since charitable solicitation does more than inform private economic decisions and is not primarily concerned with providing information about the characteristics and costs of goods and services, it is not dealt with as a variety of purely commercial speech. Pp. 628-632. _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
