Protests, Public Comment, and Policy: First Amendment Law for Public Officials
Advising Local and State Government on First Amendment Law From Council Chambers to Social Media
Recording of a 90-minute CLE video webinar with Q&A
This CLE webinar will provide counsel a thorough discussion of the First Amendment legal challenges facing municipal governments. Public comment regulation, protest management, and social media use by public officials all face increased scrutiny. When cities, counties, and school boards regulate speech in public forums and digital spaces, legal counsel must ensure their clients' policies withstand constitutional review while preserving order and operational continuity.
Outline
- Introduction
- The public forum doctrine and its application
- Traditional, designated/limited, and non-public forums
- Key U.S. Supreme Court cases
- Regulating protests and public demonstrations
- Time‑place‑manner restrictions
- Licensing and permits
- Advice for counsel
- Public meetings and comment policies
- Free speech protections
- Drafting compliant policies
- Handling disruptive conduct
- Social media and government accounts
- Online forums
- Legal developments
- Best practices
- "Cancel culture" lawsuits and library content disputes
- Library materials
- School boards
- Counsel strategy
Benefits
The panel will review these and other important issues:
- Traditional, designated, limited, and nonpublic forums
- Legal standards for content-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions
- Public comment policies that comply with First Amendment protections
- Evaluating legal risks and constitutional considerations when removing disruptive individuals
- Analyze recent Supreme Court decisions, including Lindke v. Freed and Garnier
- Practical strategies for advising municipal clients
Faculty
Mina S. Makarious
Partner
Anderson & Kreiger
Mr. Makarious represents clients on municipal, airport, environmental, and construction matters. His airport work... | Read More
Mr. Makarious represents clients on municipal, airport, environmental, and construction matters. His airport work includes representing airports around the country on the negotiation of complex lease transactions with airlines, including airline use and lease agreements and agreements with airline fuel consortia. Mr. Makarious worked to revise the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Aeronautics regulations, and works with the Department’s Aeronautics Division on matters regarding the use and regulation of drones. He has also assisted a private manufacturer of drone technologies in obtaining a waiver from the FAA for the use of drones beyond the visual line of sight, one of the first such waivers ever granted by the FAA.
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HongDao Nguyen
Partner
Best Best & Krieger
Ms. Nguyen assists public clients in transactional and litigation matters concerning municipal government, with a... | Read More
Ms. Nguyen assists public clients in transactional and litigation matters concerning municipal government, with a focus on land use and public records law. A partner in the Municipal Law practice group of Best Best & Krieger LLP, she serves as city attorney to the cities of Artesia and Stanton, and assistant city attorney to the cities of Aliso Viejo, Lake Forest and Signal Hill. Recognizing that every city has its own political and cultural landscape — whether it be an affluent city looking to develop hundreds of residences or one that must work around a number of properties with historical designations. Ms. Nguyen works with her clients from the first stages of the permitting process to completion. In addition, she has extensive experience in planning and zoning law, the Subdivision Map Act and many other applicable laws.
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Professor David Schultz
Distinguished University Professor of Political Science and Legal Studies
Hamline University
Professor Schultz is a Distinguished University Professor in the Departments of Political Science,... | Read More
Professor Schultz is a Distinguished University Professor in the Departments of Political Science, Environmental Studies, and Legal Studies at Hamline University. He is also an adjunct professor of Law at the University of Minnesota and at the University of St. Thomas, and an affiliate faculty member at the Lithuanian Military Academy in Vilnius, Lithuania. A four-time Fulbright scholar who has taught extensively in Europe and Asia, and the winner of the Leslie A. Whittington national award for excellence in public affairs teaching, Professor Schultz is the author of more than 45 books and 200+ articles on various aspects of American politics, election law, and the media and politics, and he is regularly interviewed and quoted in the local, national, and international media on these subjects including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, the Economist, and National Public Radio. His most recent books are Constitutional Precedent in US Supreme Court Reasoning (2022), Handbook of Election Law (2022), and Presidential Swing States (2022). Prior to teaching, Professor Schultz served as a city director of planning, zoning and code enforcement, and as a housing and economic planner for a community action agency. He is on the ACS Minnesota Advisory Board and is former executive director of Common Cause Minnesota and a former vice-president for the Minnesota and South Texas chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union. Professor Schultz is licensed to practice law in Minnesota and before the US Supreme Court.
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