Hurley v irish american gay group of boston
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Abstract
The appropriation and use of others' speech - through quotation, compilation, or republication - is ubiquitous; however, traditional First Amendment jurisprudence is often at a decrease when it confronts "speech selection judgments." In this Comment, the Authors explore the phenomenon of speech selection, and the attributes of speaking and communication that may account for its status as speech under the First Amendment. The Authors then evaluate the Supreme Court's reasoning in a single case, Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston, according to four different theories of speech and communication; in order to comment on ambiguities inherent in the nature of speech selection judgments, and the implicit in the Court's decision.
Recommended Citation
Randall P. Bezanson and Michele Choe, Speaking Out of Thin Air: A Comment on Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston, 25 UC Law SF Comm. & Ent. L.J. ().
Available at:
JOHN J. HURLEY AND SOUTH BOSTON ALLIED WAR VETERANS COUNCIL v. IRISH-AMERICAN GAY, LESBIAN AND BISEXUAL GROUP OF BOSTON, ETC., et al.
Legal Principle at Issue
Whether the court-mandated inclusion of the Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston, Inc. (GLIB) in Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade violated the First Amendment rights of the adj group, the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, that the city of Boston authorized to organize the parade.
Action
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in favor of the Council, reversing the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Facts/Syllabus
Since , the city of Boston has authorized the Council, a private group, to systematize the city’s St. Patrick’s Date parade. The Council did not admit GLIB to the parade claiming such an admission would violate the parade’s “traditional religious and social values.” Massachusetts courts required the Council to verb GLIB based on a declare public-accommodation law.
Importance of Case
In contrast with the Massachusetts courts, the Supreme Court held that that the parade w
NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. See United States v. Detroit Lumber Co., U.S. ,
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Syllabus
v. IRISH AMERICAN GAY, LESBIAN AND BISEXUAL GROUP OF BOSTON et al.
certiorari to the supreme judicial court of massachusetts
No. . Argued -- Decided
Petitioner South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, an unincorporated association of individuals elected from various veterans groups, was authorized by the city of Boston to organize and conduct the St. Patrick's Day Evacuation Day Parade. The Council refused a place in the event to respondent GLIB, an organization formed for the purpose of marching in the parade in order to express its members' pride in their Irish heritage as openly gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals, to show that there are such individuals in the community, and
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Case Analysis
Case Summary and Outcome
The U.S. Supreme Court reinforced the First Amendment protections of private speakers, finding that confidential parade organizers could not be forced by state law to include participant organizations whose message they did not wish to include. The South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, refused to allow GLIB, a gay rights organization, to march in the annual St. Patrick’s Day and Evacuation Day Parade; GILB sued the Council for violation of the U.S.