94
Scalia, J., dissenting
issue an order to disperse] is inherently subjective because its application depends on whether some purpose is 'apparent' to the officer on the scene." Ante, at 62. In the Court's view, a person's lack of any purpose in staying in one location is presumably an objective factor, and what the ordinance requires as a condition of an order to disperse— the absence of any apparent purpose—is a subjective factor. This side of the looking glass, just the opposite is true.
Elsewhere, of course, the Court acknowledges the clear, objective commands of the ordinance, and indeed relies upon them to paint it as unfair:
"In any public place in the city of Chicago, persons who stand or sit in the company of a gang member may be ordered to disperse unless their purpose is apparent. The mandatory language in the enactment directs the police to issue an order without first making any inquiry about their possible purposes. It matters not whether the reason that a gang member and his father, for example, might loiter near Wrigley Field is to rob an unsuspecting fan or just to get a glimpse of Sammy Sosa leaving the ballpark; in either event, if their purpose is not apparent to a nearby police officer, she may—indeed, she 'shall'—order them to disperse." Ante, at 60.
Quite so. And the fact that this clear instruction to the officers "reach[es] a substantial amount of innocent conduct," ibid., would be invalidating if that conduct were constitutionally protected against abridgment, such as speech or the practice of religion. Remaining in one place is not so protected, and so (as already discussed) it is up to the citizens of Chicago—not us—to decide whether the tradeoff is worth it.12
12 The Court speculates that a police officer may exercise his discretion to enforce the ordinance and direct dispersal when (in the Court's view) the ordinance is inapplicable—viz., where there is an apparent purpose, but it is an unlawful one. See ante, at 62. No one in his right mind
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