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Constitutional Law Keyed to Choper
McCullen v. Coakley
Citation:
573 U.S. 464 (2014)Facts
In 2007, Massachusetts amended its Reproductive Health Care Facilities Act to create fixed 35-foot buffer zones around the entrances, exits, and driveways of abortion clinics. The law made it a crime for anyone to “knowingly enter or remain” within these zones, with exceptions for people entering or leaving the facility, employees or agents of the facility acting within the scope of their employment, law enforcement and other municipal agents, and individuals passing through to reach another destination. The petitioners were “sidewalk counselors” who sought to engage women approaching abortion clinics in peaceful, non-confrontational conversations about alternatives to abortion. They claimed that the buffer zones significantly hampered their ability to communicate their message effectively, forcing them to shout from a distance and making it difficult to distribute literature. The petitioners argued that the law violated their First Amendment rights by restricting their speech in traditional public forums.
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