Volokh, Garnett, Paulsen, Zick, Lee, Chen, & Krotoszynski in McCullen v. Coakley

Following up on Tom's post about the Democrats for Life brief and Michael's post about the McConnell/Inazu/CLS et al. brief, see here for another amici curiae brief in support of petitioners in McCullen v. Coakley. This one is filed on behalf of several First Amendment scholars: Eugene Volokh, Rick Garnett, Michael Stokes Paulsen, Timothy Zick, William E. Lee, Alan Chen, and Ronald J. Krotoszynski, Jr. The brief highlights the depth and breadth of academic criticism of Hill v. Colorado. The brief's signatories have different views on the Supreme Court's abortion jurisprudence but agree on the importance of the First Amendment principles at stake in the case. Special thanks to Matthew Fitzgerald of McGuireWoods for taking the pen and for serving as counsel of record.

The table of contents for the brief provides a sense of the arguments:

I. EVEN STRONG SUPPORTERS OF ABORTION RIGHTS 
FAVORED FREE  SPEECH IN HILL v. COLORADO................... 6

A. Hill’s content-neutrality holding disagreed with the ACLU 
and drew immediate criticism from leading liberal scholars.............................. 8

B. Hill’s focus on protecting the unwilling listener was also widely 
doubted and criticized............................ 12

II. THE LOGIC OF HILL OPENED THE DOOR TO 
THE MORE RESTRICTIVE MASSACHUSETTS LAW HERE ................... 14

A. In the wake of Hill, scholars predicted trouble such as this 
ahead. ..................................................... 14

B. The courts have slid directly down 
Hill to McCullen..................................... 15

CONCLUSION ........................................................ 21