Moishe Meyer Rosen v. The Port of Portland James Hawley and Steven C. Laxton

641 F.2d 1243, 1981 U.S. App. LEXIS 19595
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedApril 9, 1981
Docket79-4141
StatusPublished
Cited by75 cases

This text of 641 F.2d 1243 (Moishe Meyer Rosen v. The Port of Portland James Hawley and Steven C. Laxton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moishe Meyer Rosen v. The Port of Portland James Hawley and Steven C. Laxton, 641 F.2d 1243, 1981 U.S. App. LEXIS 19595 (9th Cir. 1981).

Opinions

REINHARDT, Circuit Judge:

Moishe Meyer Rosen, chairman of Jews for Jesus, arrived at Portland International Airport by plane and started distributing religious literature in the airport terminal. He was arrested for violating an ordinance requiring advance registration by those desiring to exercise first amendment rights at the terminal.1 The ordinance provides for [1245]*1245(1) one business day’s notice of an intent to distribute literature, picket, demonstrate, or “otherwise communicate with the general public” and (2) advance disclosure of the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the sponsoring person and “responsible” person.2

Rosen brought suit for declaratory and injunctive relief, claiming that the ordinance is unconstitutional on its face under the first and fourteenth amendments.3 The district court upheld the ordinance and granted summary judgment for the defendants.4 Rosen appealed.5

The distribution of literature is a form of communication protected by the first amendment. Lovell v. City of Griffin, 303 U.S. 444, 58 S.Ct. 666, 82 L.Ed. 949 (1938). The first amendment is to be given full effect in the public areas of airport terminal buildings. Kuszynski v. City of [1246]*1246Oakland, 479 F.2d 1130 (9th Cir. 1973); Chicago Area Military Project v. City of Chicago, 508 F.2d 921 (7th Cir. 1975). However, the regulation of activity that interferes with the normal use of an airport facility is a proper governmental function. The issue before us then is whether a public agency may regulate activity protected by the first amendment in the manner provided in the challenged ordinance.

The Port of Portland contends that the ordinance, although it affects the exercise of first amendment rights, is justified. The Port asserts the need • for advance notice when activity potentially disruptive of normal airport business will occur, so that it may take adequate precautions to preserve the peace. It also suggests that advance notice may enable it to avoid the conflicts that might arise if several groups demonstrated at the same time. Finally, it argues that requiring the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of sponsoring and “responsible” persons will help it to assess the possibility of disruption and will assist in its efforts to make arrangements with those persons for the orderly and peaceful use of the airport’s facilities.

Rosen contends that both the advance notice and the identification requirements of the ordinance have a “chilling effect” on free speech. He argues that a public agency may not compel an individual to register with local authorities as a condition to the exercise of free speech rights. He also urges that compulsory disclosure of the identity of sponsors and “responsible” persons is unconstitutional because those communicating with the public have a right to-maintain their anonymity.

We begin with the general principles that govern the analysis of statutes or ordinances that regulate or infringe upon the exercise of first amendment rights. Any such law “must survive the most exacting scrutiny.” Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 64, 96 S.Ct. 612, 656, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976). First, the law is presumptively unconstitutional and the state bears the burden of justification. Kuszynski v. City of Oakland, 479 F.2d 1130, 1151 (9th Cir. 1973). Second, the law must bear a “substantial relation,” Gibson v. Florida Legislative Commission, 372 U.S. 539, 546, 83 S.Ct. 889, 893, 9 L.Ed.2d 929 (1963), to a “weighty” governmental interest. See Cox v. Louisiana, 379 U.S. 536, 85 S.Ct. 453, 13 L.Ed.2d 471 (1964). The law cannot be justified merely by a showing of some legitimate governmental interest. Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. at 64, 96 S.Ct. at 656. Third, the law must be the- least drastic means of protecting the governmental interest involved; its restrictions may be “no greater than necessary or essential to the protection of the governmental interest.” Baldwin v. Redwood City, 540 F.2d 1360, 1367 (9th Cir. 1976).6 Fourth, the law must be drawn with “narrow specificity.” Hynes v. Mayor and Council of Borough of Oradell, 425 U.S. 610, 96 S.Ct. 1755, 48 L.Ed.2d 243 (1976); NAACP v. Button, 371 U.S. 415, 83 S.Ct. 328, 9 L.Ed.2d 405 (1963). See also Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission of New York, 447 U.S. 557, 100 S.Ct. 2343, 65 L.Ed.2d 341 (1980).

Moreover, any law which imposes a “prior restraint” on the exercise of first amendment rights comes to this Court “with a heavy presumption against its con[1247]*1247stitutional validity.” Vance v. Universal Amusement Co., Inc., 445 U.S. 308, 317, 100 S.Ct. 1156, 1161, 63 L.Ed.2d 413 (1980), quoting Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan, 372 U.S. 58, 70, 83 S.Ct. 631, 639, 9 L.Ed.2d 584 (1963); Nebraska Press Ass’n v. Stuart, 427 U.S. 539, 558, 96 S.Ct. 2791, 2802, 49 L.Ed.2d 683 (1975); New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713, 714, 91 S.Ct. 2140, 2141, 29 L.Ed.2d 822 (1970); Organization for a Better Austin v. Keefe, 402 U.S. 415, 419, 91 S.Ct. 1575, 1577, 29 L.Ed.2d 1 (1970). The presumption is heavier against “prior restraints,” and the protection therefore greater, because “prior restraints on speech and publications are the most serious and the least tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights.” Nebraska Press Ass’n v. Stuart, 427 U.S. at 559, 96 S.Ct. at 2802.

With these general principles in mind, we turn to an analysis of the constitutionality of the specific requirements of the ordinance.

I

The Advance Notice Requirement

We find the requirement of advance registration as a condition to peaceful pamphleteering, picketing, or communicating with the public to be unconstitutional. The United States Supreme Court held more than thirty-five years ago that persons desiring to exercise their free speech rights may not be required to give advance notice to the state. Thomas v. Collins, 323 U.S. 516, 65 S.Ct. 315, 89 L.Ed. 430 (1944). In Thomas, the Court said:

If the exercise of the rights of free speech and free assembly cannot be made a crime, we do not think this can be accomplished by the device of requiring previous registration as a condition for exercising them and making such a condition the foundation for restraining in advance their exercise and for imposing a penalty for violating such a restraining order. So long as no more is involved than exercise of free speech and free assembly, it is immune to such a restriction.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Michael Moshoures v. City of North Myrtle Beach
131 F.4th 158 (Fourth Circuit, 2025)
Turning Point USA at Arkansas v. Ron Rhodes
973 F.3d 868 (Eighth Circuit, 2020)
Occupy Fresno v. County of Fresno
835 F. Supp. 2d 849 (E.D. California, 2011)
Higher Taste v. City of Tacoma
755 F. Supp. 2d 1130 (W.D. Washington, 2010)
Long Beach Area Peace v. City of Long Beach
574 F.3d 1011 (Ninth Circuit, 2009)
Long Beach Area Peace Network v. City of Long Beach
522 F.3d 1010 (Ninth Circuit, 2008)
Berger v. City of Seattle
512 F.3d 582 (Ninth Circuit, 2008)
Santa Monica Food Not Bombs v. City of Santa Monica
450 F.3d 1022 (Ninth Circuit, 2006)
Yeakle v. City of Portland
322 F. Supp. 2d 1119 (D. Oregon, 2004)
Ruiz v. Hull
957 P.2d 984 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1998)
Union of Needletrades, Industrial & Textile Employees v. Superior Court
56 Cal. App. 4th 996 (California Court of Appeal, 1997)
Carol Douglas v. Robert Brownell
88 F.3d 1511 (Eighth Circuit, 1996)
Douglas v. Brownell
88 F.3d 1511 (Eighth Circuit, 1996)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
641 F.2d 1243, 1981 U.S. App. LEXIS 19595, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moishe-meyer-rosen-v-the-port-of-portland-james-hawley-and-steven-c-ca9-1981.