No. 18-1235

Joe Ribakoff v. City of Long Beach, California, et al.

Lower Court: California
Docketed: 2019-03-22
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Tags: 1st-amendment civil-procedure civil-rights constitutional-rights content-based-regulation content-based-speech expert-testimony first-amendment free-speech government-speech public-forum speech-restriction
Key Terms:
FirstAmendment JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2019-05-23
Question Presented (from Petition)

1) Is a rule abridging speech by members of the public at an open public meeting of a city government a presumptively unconstitutional content-based speech regulation under the 1st Amendment if it does not also apply to 'staff' and government invite speakers when the justification for distinction between public and non-public speakers is that 'staff' and invite speakers are experts, while public speakers just create "the potential for endless discussion" [Appendix , pages 38-39] - i.e. that the public speaker's "speech is not worth it" United States v. Stevens 559 US 460, (2010)?

2) Does a state court have the power to cure a facially unconstitutional speech regulation of its 1st Amendment infirmities by rewriting it to constitutional standards, or, do separation of powers - the constitutional order that requires the legislature to legislate and the judiciary to adjudicate - bar not just the federal court from rewriting such a law (Stevens 559 US at), but also the state courts. Ask alternatively, can a state court make a facially unconstitutional state law into a facially constitutional one without ever changing the statute's face?

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Is a rule abridging speech by members of the public at an open public meeting of a city government a presumptively unconstitutional content-based speech regulation under the 1st Amendment if it does not also apply to 'staff' and government invite speakers when the justification for distinction between public and non-public speakers is that 'staff' and invite speakers are experts, while public speakers just create 'the potential for endless discussion'?

Docket Entries

2019-05-28
Petition DENIED.
2019-05-07
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/23/2019.
2019-03-19
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due April 22, 2019)

Attorneys

Joe Ribakoff
Joe Ribakoff — Petitioner