The First Amendment: Free Speech &
Freedom of Religion
• Advertising and Information
Dissemination
• Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego
• Church and Worship Regulation
• First Covenant Church of Seattle v.
City of Seattle
• Civil Liberties for Urban Believers v. City
of Chicago
U N I V E R S I T Y of H O U S T O N
Professor Marcilynn A. Burke
Copyright©2014 Marcilynn A. Burke
All rights reserved. Provided for student use only.
Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego,
453 U.S. 490 (1981), p. 412
Commercial Speech Standard
1. First Amendment protects speech re
lawful activity that is not misleading.
Restriction is valid if it seeks to implement—
2. a substantial government interest,
3. directly advances that interest, and
4. reaches no further than necessary.
U N I V E R S I T Y of H O U S T O N
Professor Marcilynn A. Burke
Copyright©2014 Marcilynn A. Burke
All rights reserved. Provided for student use only.
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Metromedia Cont’d
• Noncommercial v. Commercial
Speech
• Safety
• Aesthetics
• Alternative Channels
U N I V E R S I T Y of H O U S T O N
Professor Marcilynn A. Burke
Copyright©2014 Marcilynn A. Burke
All rights reserved. Provided for student use only.
Metromedia Cont’d
What Advice Would You Give?
• Neon signs
• Sex-oriented business signs
• Display of flags
U N I V E R S I T Y of H O U S T O N
Professor Marcilynn A. Burke
Copyright©2014 Marcilynn A. Burke
All rights reserved. Provided for student use only.
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First Covenant Church of Seattle v.
City of Seattle,
840 P.2d 174 (Wash. 1992), p. 428
Free Exercise Clause &
Historic Preservation
• Employment Division v. Smith
• General applicability or—
• targeting religious activity
• “hybrid” right
• Exception for liturgy
U N I V E R S I T Y of H O U S T O N
Professor Marcilynn A. Burke
Copyright©2014 Marcilynn A. Burke
All rights reserved. Provided for student use only.
Examples of Restrictions
• Restrictions on home worship
• Zoning for houses of worship
• Restrictions on uses that carry out
religious missions
• Historic preservation laws
U N I V E R S I T Y of H O U S T O N
Professor Marcilynn A. Burke
Copyright©2014 Marcilynn A. Burke
All rights reserved. Provided for student use only.
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Civil Liberties for Urban Believers v.
City of Chicago,
342 F.3d 752 (7th Cir. 2003), p. 435
RLUIPA & Siting Churches
• RFRA & City of Boerne v. Flores
• Substantial burden
• Nondiscrimination
U N I V E R S I T Y of H O U S T O N
Professor Marcilynn A. Burke
Copyright©2014 Marcilynn A. Burke
All rights reserved. Provided for student use only.
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