Burson v. Freeman

Summary

The Court held that Tennessee's prohibition on campaign solicitation and campaign-material display or distribution within 100 feet of a polling-place entrance does not violate the First Amendment. Although the law is a content-based restriction on political speech in a public forum and therefore subject to exacting scrutiny, the State's interests in preventing voter intimidation and election fraud, together with the historical necessity of a restricted zone, justified the 100-foot boundary. Justice Kennedy concurred in the judgment while offering a different account of content-based scrutiny; Justice Scalia concurred on the ground that polling-place environs are nonpublic forums; Justice Stevens, joined by Justices O'Connor and Souter, would have invalidated the restriction as insufficiently justified and overbroad.