Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is the author of  “Everybody Out of the Pool: Recognizing a First Amendment Claim for the Retaliatory Closure of (Real or Virtual) Public Forums” published in the University of Florida Journal of Law and Public Policy, Volume 30.

LoMonte writes about the importance of allowing speakers who are excluded from public property an opportunity to challenge the exclusion under the First Amendment. It criticizes recent federal court rulings that suggest that the government can freely close off a piece of public property to speakers at any time for any reason, even a retaliatory reason.

The article concludes that the government’s motivation for excluding speakers from using public property to deliver their message should be open to judicial scrutiny, if the speaker can prove that the true motive was to silence a controversial or unpopular speaker.

Posted: July 7, 2020
Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte