Jesse Loor v. Jenny Bailey, et al.
AdministrativeLaw FirstAmendment Copyright JusticiabilityDoctri
Whether the facial validity of a mail regulation automatically defeats an as-applied challenge to a jail's censorship of particular publications?
QUESTION PRESENTED In Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989), this Court upheld a correctional institution’s mail regulations as “facially valid” under the First Amendment. Id. at 419. But the Court also differentiated that facial challenge from an as-applied challenge, ordering the lower court, on remand, to determine “the validity of the regulations as applied” to the particular publications censored by mailroom staff. Id. The question presented is: Whether the facial validity of a mail regulation automatically defeats an as-applied challenge to a jail’s censorship of particular publications?