political-speech

52 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
25-882 Andrew D. Parker, et al. v. Bill Gates, as a Member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, et al. Ninth Circuit 2026-01-22 Pending district-court-discretion election-litigation first-amendment legal-procedure political-speech rule-11-sanctions Petitioners brought claims on behalf of candidates in advance of the 2022 election, challenging the procedures Arizona would use to count votes in tha…
25-819 Jeanne Hedgepeth v. James A. Britton, et al. Seventh Circuit 2026-01-12 Pending Amici (2)Response RequestedResponse Waived first-amendment free-speech pickering-balancing-test political-speech public-employee viewpoint-discrimination Whether and in what circumstances public employers may discipline employees based on their expression of controversial views while off the job.
25-756 Larry Householder v. United States Sixth Circuit 2025-12-29 Pending Response RequestedResponse Waived campaign-finance extortion first-amendment honest-services-fraud political-speech quid-pro-quo The First Amendment's protection of political speech ensures that a political contribution will not constitute extortion under 18 U.S.C. § 1951 or h…
25A562 Jeanne Hedgepeth v. James A. Britton, et al. Seventh Circuit 2025-11-14 Application first-amendment free-speech pickering-test political-speech public-employee viewpoint-discrimination Whether a public employer violates the First Amendment by terminating an employee for expressing political views on social media while off-duty
25-6115 Anton Lazzaro v. LGM Consulting Group, Inc. Florida 2025-11-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-rights contract-law damages first-amendment fundraising political-speech The State of Florida authorizes political fundraising consultants to recover expectancy damages in breach of contract actions against political campai…
25A402 Andrew Hess v. Oakland County, Michigan, et al. Sixth Circuit 2025-10-07 Application election-recount first-amendment hyperbole michigan-statute political-speech terrorist-threat Whether a state statute criminalizing alleged 'terrorist threats' violates the First Amendment when applied to political hyperbole made in a public se…
24-803 Michael Quinn Sullivan v. Texas Ethics Commission Texas 2025-01-28 Denied Amici (9)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) citizen-communication first-amendment free-speech government-regulation lobbying-restrictions political-speech Whether the First Amendment permits the government to require ordinary citizens to register and pay a fee to communicate with their government represe…
24A494 Michael Quinn Sullivan v. Texas Ethics Commission Texas 2024-11-19 Presumed Complete campaign-finance first-amendment free-speech-restriction government-compulsion political-speech registration-requirement Whether a state may constitutionally compel a private citizen to register with a governmental agency and pay a fee in order to engage in political spe…
24-503 Upstate Jobs Party, et al. v. Peter S. Kosinski, New York State Board of Elections Co-Chair Commissioner, et al. Second Circuit 2024-11-04 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) campaign-finance contribution-limits first-amendment judicial-scrutiny political-speech quid-pro-quo Whether mere hypothetical assertions and judicial common sense are sufficient to impose asymmetrical restrictions on political speech without evidence…
24A266 Upstate Jobs Party, et al. v. Peter Kosinski, New York State Board of Elections Co-Chair Commissioner, et al. Second Circuit 2024-09-16 Presumed Complete campaign-finance contribution-limits equal-protection first-amendment political-speech quid-pro-quo-corruption Whether the First Amendment permits a state to impose asymmetrical campaign contribution limits based solely on hypothetical corruption risks without …
24-5526 Terry Dean Birts v. Arkansas Arkansas 2024-09-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP campaign-finance constitutional-rights donation-regulation first-amendment free-speech political-speech Whether state-level political donations can be considered a form of protected First Amendment speech and whether campaign finance regulations impermis…
24-59 Stephen Lynch Murray v. Phil Archer, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2024-07-18 Denied Relisted (2) civil-procedure civil-rights color-of-law confrontation due-process fourth-amendment free-speech political-speech speech-retaliation standing witness-confrontation When there is speech infringement with arrest, must there be a venue for confrontation and evidence the state did not provide as due, before a federal…
24-53 Nathan Miller, et al. v. Republican Party of Minnesota, et al. Minnesota 2024-07-17 Denied campaign-speech civil-rights compelling-state-interest constitutional-law content-based-restriction content-based-restrictions first-amendment free-speech political-speech Whether state statutes broadly banning false campaign speech are unconstitutional content-based restrictions on political speech
23-1215 Christopher Deering v. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18, et al. Ninth Circuit 2024-05-14 Denied Response Waived color-of-law compelled-speech dues dues-payments first-amendment free-speech political-speech public-employee union union-membership Whether the First Amendment protects a public employee's right to disassociate from a union
23-7247 Calvin Fair v. New Jersey New Jersey 2024-04-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP civil-rights constitutional-rights due-process first-amendment free-speech intent mental-state political-speech recklessness standing true-threat When the state prosecutes core political speech as a true threat, must the state prove the speaker's intent to terrorize, or is a recklessness standar…
23A897 Brian Benjamin v. United States Second Circuit 2024-04-09 Presumed Complete bribery-statute campaign-contributions explicit-agreement first-amendment political-speech quid-pro-quo Whether the First Amendment and McCormick v. United States require an explicit, unambiguous quid pro quo for criminal bribery charges involving campai…
23A787 Ryan Cram, et al. v. Service Employees International Union Local 503, Oregon Public Employees Union, et al. Ninth Circuit 2024-02-27 Presumed Complete compelled-speech first-amendment government-deduction non-union-employees political-speech union-fees Whether the First Amendment requires specific procedural safeguards to protect non-union public employees from compelled political speech when governm…
23-926 No on E, San Franciscans Opposing the Affordable Housing Production Act, et al. v. David Chiu, in His Official Capacity as San Francisco City Attorney, et al. Ninth Circuit 2024-02-27 Denied Amici (8)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) advertising-regulation association campaign-finance compelled-speech disclosure-requirements donor-disclosure donor-transparency first-amendment free-speech political-speech Whether requiring political advertisers to name their donors' donors within their advertisements advances any important or compelling state interest
23-6840 Suzanne Ellen Kaye v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2024-02-27 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-law counterman-v-colorado first-amendment free-speech jury-instructions political-speech true-threats watts-v-united-states In threat prosecutions where the defendant mounts a political-speech defense, may trial courts—consistent with the First Amendment—instruct the jury o…
22-1199 Rogan O'Handley v. Shirley N. Weber, California Secretary of State, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-06-12 Denied Amici (5)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3) censorship first-amendment free-speech government-speech online-censorship political-speech social-media social-media-regulation state-action Whether state officials violated the First Amendment by directing social media companies to remove political speech deemed false or misleading
22-1033 Eugene Mazo, et al. v. Tahesha Way, New Jersey Secretary of State, et al. Third Circuit 2023-04-25 Denied Amici (8)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) ballot ballot-restrictions civil-rights content-based-regulation content-regulation election first-amendment free-speech political-speech strict-scrutiny viewpoint-discrimination Whether a state that permits political candidates to engage in core political speech on the ballot may restrict that speech on the basis of content an…
22-865 Mobilize the Message, LLC, et al. v. Rob Bonta, Attorney General of California Ninth Circuit 2023-03-10 Denied Amici (4) campaign-finance campaign-material civil-rights content-based-regulation content-based-restriction first-amendment free-speech independent-contractor independent-contractors political-canvassing political-speech speech-regulation Whether regulating canvassing and the delivery of printed material based on that speech's content, function, or purpose implicates the First Amendment
21-1412 Pamela Young, et al. v. Wendy Rogers, et al. Arizona 2022-05-03 Denied Response Waived defamation false-light first-amendment milkovich milkovich-standard political-speech private-figure reasonable-reader Whether the First Amendment immunizes a political candidate from a private figure's defamation-and-false-light-claims,whether-under-Milkovich's-enhanc…
21-7115 Robert Stahlnecker v. United States Ninth Circuit 2022-02-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP communications-law constitutional-challenge criminal-law first-amendment free-speech political-speech statutory-interpretation telecommunications Does 47 U.S.C. § 223(a)(1)(C) violate the First Amendment when applied to political speech?
21-1071 Stephen Lynch Murray v. Janelle Irwin Taylor, et al. Florida 2022-02-02 Denied civil-rights cyberstalking-statute defamation due-process first-amendment free-speech government-retaliation judicial-discretion political-speech standing Can the government deputize private actors to attack political speech and thereby abridge political speech?
21-992 Dori Yates, et al. v. Hillsboro Unified School District, et al. Ninth Circuit 2022-01-12 Denied Response Waived belgau-v-inslee first-amendment janus-precedent janus-v-afscme membership-agreement political-speech public-employees public-sector-unions union-dues waiver Do boilerplate union membership agreements supersede employees' First Amendment rights when it comes to government unions taking employees' money for …
21-779 Mark E. Schell v. Richard Darby, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Oklahoma, et al. Tenth Circuit 2021-11-24 Denied Amici (5)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) bar-dues compulsory-fees constitutional-scrutiny exacting-scrutiny first-amendment ideological-speech mandatory-bar-dues political-speech union-fees Are mandatory bar dues that subsidize the political and ideological speech of bar associations subject to 'the same constitutional rule' of exacting F…
21-712 Derrick Tyrone Jenkins v. Florida Florida 2021-11-15 Denied Response Waived clear-and-present-danger contempt contempt-of-court due-process extrajudicial-speech first-amendment free-speech habeas-review judicial-criticism political-speech Does the clear and present danger standard apply in contempt proceedings brought to sanction a litigant's extrajudicial criticism of an elected judge …
21-657 Joseph Cecil Vandevere v. United States Fourth Circuit 2021-11-03 Denied Response Waived conditional-speech constitutional-law first-amendment free-speech political-hyperbole political-speech public-concern true-threat Whether the speech at issue is entitled to special protection due to public concern
21-247 Coalition for Better Government, et al. v. Alliance for Good Government Fifth Circuit 2021-08-20 Denied Response Waived attorney-fees chilling-effect commercial-speech fee-shifting first-amendment lanham-act non-commercial-speech political-speech Should the Lanham Act be extended to non-commercial political speech?
20-1731 Trista Oettle v. William J. Cadigan, Chairman, Illinois State Board of Elections, et al. Illinois 2021-06-15 Denied Response Waived ballot-selfie content-based-restriction first-amendment free-speech political-expression political-speech public-forum viewpoint-neutral viewpoint-neutrality Whether a ballot selfie is a form of political expression
20-1678 Daniel Z. Crowe, et al. v. Oregon State Bar, et al. Ninth Circuit 2021-06-02 Denied Amici (10)Response Waived attorney-regulation compelled-speech constitutional-scrutiny first-amendment free-speech keller-v-state-bar mandatory-dues political-speech public-sector-unions state-bar Is the statute that compels attorneys to subsidize Oregon State Bar's political and ideological speech subject to 'exacting' scrutiny?
20-1379 Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority v. Center for Investigative Reporting Third Circuit 2021-04-01 Denied Amici (3) categorical-ban commercial-speech content-restriction first-amendment free-speech government-speech political-speech public-forum supreme-court-precedent transit-advertising transit-authority Whether this Court's decision in Mansky overruled or abrogated the Court's holding in Lehman that transit authorities have the discretion to categoric…
20-7555 Anthony A. Patel v. Patricia Miller, et al. Ninth Circuit 2021-03-25 Denied Response WaivedIFP asian-americans civil-rights constitutional-law due-process equal-protection mental-health political-speech state-action Do the federal civil rights laws apply equally to Americans of Asian descent?
20-7450 Anthony A. Patel v. Regents of the University of California California 2021-03-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP civil-rights constitutional-rights due-process equal-protection judicial-discretion mental-health mental-health-diagnosis political-discrimination political-speech trump-presidency Does the U.S. Constitution permit the State of California to misdiagnose an American Citizen as Suffering from a Mental Disorder for supporting Presid…
20-1081 Illinois Republican Party, et al. v. J. B. Pritzker, Governor of Illinois Seventh Circuit 2021-02-08 Denied Response Waived civil-rights content-based-restriction content-based-restrictions first-amendment free-speech pandemic-regulation political-speech religious-speech strict-scrutiny Does the Illinois governor's preference for religious speakers over political speakers survive strict scrutiny?
20-1078 Danyelle Bennett v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee Sixth Circuit 2021-02-08 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3) constitutional-protection first-amendment free-speech hecklers-veto pickering-balancing-test political-speech public-employee rankin-v-mcpherson Whether a public employee's political debate on an issue of national importance may be silenced based solely on the speaker's use of an offensive word
20-751 Ashley Ann Krapacs v. The Florida Bar Florida 2020-12-01 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2) abstract-idea administrative-law bar-discipline civil-rights disbarment due-process first-amendment fourteenth-amendment free-speech free-speech 20-7519" integrated-bar intellectual-property judicial-corruption patent-law political-speech professional-conduct state-action supreme-court-precedent Whether the Supreme Court will address alleged jud Whether the state action of disbarment violates the First Amendment as applied to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment
20-530 Harold H. Burbank, II v. Connecticut Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel Connecticut 2020-10-21 Denied attorney-discipline civil-rights constitutional-protection due-process equal-protection first-amendment free-speech petition petition-rights political-speech Did the First Amendment and Connecticut Constitution preclude Connecticut from reciprocal attorney discipline
20-264 Stephen S. Bona v. Illinois Illinois 2020-09-02 Denied criminal-threat elonis-v-united-states first-amendment free-speech intent-to-harm political-speech true-threat virginia-v-black Whether the First Amendment allows a state to criminalize a knowing threat of violence directed against a political official without a showing of an i…
19-1225 Paul Hunt v. Board of Regents of the University of New Mexico, et al. Tenth Circuit 2020-04-17 Denied Amici (8)Relisted (7) constitutional-rights first-amendment free-speech off-campus-speech political-speech professional-conduct professional-norms public-university qualified-immunity student-speech university-policy Whether Respondents violated Mr. Hunt's clearly established rights as a private citizen under the First Amendment by punishing him for his off-campus,…
19-1219 Respect Washington v. Burien Communities for Inclusion, et al. Washington 2020-04-16 Denied Response Waived ballot ballot-access civil-rights election-law first-amendment free-speech initiative initiative-process political-speech referendum voting voting-rights Whether the First Amendment protects the right of citizens to vote on an initiative that meets all time, place and manner requirements for the initiat…
19-831 Adam Jarchow, et al. v. State Bar of Wisconsin, et al. Seventh Circuit 2020-01-02 Denied Amici (5)Relisted (3) associational-rights compelled-association compelled-speech first-amendment integrated-bar janus-precedent political-speech state-bar Whether Lathrop and Keller should be overruled and 'integrated bar' arrangements like Wisconsin's invalidated under the First Amendment
19-698 Wendy Alison Nora v. Minnesota Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility Minnesota 2019-12-04 Denied administrative-law civil-procedure disciplinary-proceedings due-process federal-courts first-amendment free-speech interpretation lower-court political-speech regulation standing Whether the lower court erred in its interpretation of the First Amendment's free speech protections as applied to the regulation of political speech
19-670 Arnold Fleck v. Joe Wetch, et al. Eighth Circuit 2019-11-26 Denied Amici (4)Relisted (2) compulsory-funding compulsory-membership first-amendment janus-v-afscme opt-out opt-out-mechanism political-activities political-speech state-bar-association union-fees Are laws mandating membership in a state bar association subject to the same 'exacting' First Amendment scrutiny that the Court prescribed for mandato…
19-631 William P. Barr, Attorney General, et al. v. American Association of Political Consultants, Inc., et al. Fourth Circuit 2019-11-15 Judgment Issued Amici (19) automated-call-restriction constitutional-remedy first-amendment free-speech government-debt-exception political-speech severability statutory-interpretation tcpa telephone-consumer-protection-act Whether the government-debt exception to the TCPA's automated-call restriction violates the First Amendment, and whether the proper remedy for any con…
19-5507 David Fennell v. Charles Munger, et al. California 2019-08-08 Denied IFP 1st-amendment assembly civil-rights due-process election-interference first-amendment fourteenth-amendment free-speech freedom-of-assembly petition-for-redress political-speech Does arresting Republican opponents and banning Republicans from running for office or attending Republican political events for life in California vi…
18-9801 RaShawn Long v. United States Eighth Circuit 2019-06-25 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP civil-procedure civil-rights due-process free-speech political-speech retaliation standing takings Whether the petitioner's First Amendment free speech rights were violated by the respondents' suppression of his political speech and expression
18-1518 Save Tacoma Water v. Port of Tacoma, et al. Washington 2019-06-06 Denied Response Waived ballot-access content-based content-based-restriction first-amendment free-speech initiative-power judicial-veto political-speech prior-restraint vagueness Whether the First Amendment prohibits a state court from enjoining a qualified initiative from appearing on the ballot because the court believes that…
18-7647 Lynn Smith, et vir v. Manasquan Savings Bank New Jersey 2019-01-29 Denied Relisted (3)IFP association codes-of-judicial-conduct first-amendment judicial-conduct new-jersey new-jersey-state-court political-speech revised-code-of-judicial-conduct rules-governing-the-courts-of-the-state-of-new-jer standards-of-behavior state-courts Whether the New Jersey Code of Judicial Conduct violates the First Amendment rights of judges and others within the New Jersey state court family by r…
18-755 Illinois Liberty PAC, et al. v. Kwame Raoul, Attorney General of Illinois, et al. Seventh Circuit 2018-12-13 Denied Amici (3)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) buckley-standard buckley-v-valeo campaign-finance civil-rights contribution-limits due-process equal-protection first-amendment political-contributions political-speech strict-scrutiny Should political contribution limits that favor one type of speaker over another receive strict scrutiny?
18-149 Doug Lair, et al. v. Jeff Mangan, in His Official Capacity as Commissioner of Political Practices, et al. Ninth Circuit 2018-08-02 Denied Amici (4)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3) campaign-finance campaign-finance-regulation civil-rights constitutional-rights contribution-limits election-law first-amendment free-speech political-contributions political-parties political-speech quid-pro-quo-corruption randall-v-sorrell standing Whether Montana's base candidate contribution limits on individual and political committees are unconstitutional under the First Amendment