Cite as: 515 U. S. 753 (1995)
Stevens, J., dissenting
Court correctly recognizes that a State may impose a ban on all private unattended displays in such a forum, ante, at 761. This is true despite the fact that our cases have condemned a number of laws that foreclose an entire medium of expression, even in places where free speech is otherwise allowed.8 The First Amendment affords protection to a basic liberty: "the freedom of speech" that an individual may exercise when using the public streets and parks. Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization, 307 U. S. 496, 515-516 (1939) (opinion of Roberts, J.). The Amendment, however, does not destroy all property rights. In particular, it does not empower individuals to erect structures of any kind on public property. Members of City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent, 466 U. S. 789, 814 (1984); 9 see also
8 "Our prior decisions have voiced particular concern with laws that fore-close an entire medium of expression. Thus, we have held invalid ordinances that completely banned the distribution of pamphlets within the municipality, Lovell v. Griffin, 303 U. S. 444, 451-452 (1938); handbills on the public streets, Jamison v. Texas, 318 U. S. 413, 416 (1943); the door-to-door distribution of literature, Martin v. Struthers, 319 U. S. 141, 145-149 (1943); Schneider v. State, 308 U. S. 147, 164-165 (1939), and live entertainment, Schad v. Mount Ephraim, 452 U. S. 61, 75-76 (1981). See also Frisby v. Schultz, 487 U. S. 474, 486 (1988) (picketing focused upon individual residence is 'fundamentally different from more generally directed means of communication that may not be completely banned in residential areas'). Although prohibitions foreclosing entire media may be completely free of content or viewpoint discrimination, the danger they pose to the freedom of speech is readily apparent—by eliminating a common means of speaking, such measures can suppress too much speech." City of Ladue v. Gilleo, 512 U. S. 43, 55 (1994) (footnote omitted).
9 In Vincent, we stated: "Appellees' reliance on the public forum doctrine is misplaced. They fail to demonstrate the existence of a traditional right of access respecting such items as utility poles for purposes of their communication comparable to that recognized for public streets and parks, and it is clear that 'the First Amendment does not guarantee access to government property simply because it is owned or controlled by the government.' United States Postal Service v. Greenburgh Civic Assns., 453 U. S. 114, 129
803
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