International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. v. Lee

Summary

The Court, in an opinion by Chief Justice Rehnquist joined by Justices White, O'Connor, Scalia, and Thomas, held that the Port Authority airport terminals are nonpublic forums and that their prohibition on solicitation is reasonable under the First Amendment. It affirmed the Court of Appeals' judgment sustaining that prohibition; the literature-distribution prohibition was resolved in a companion case. Justice O'Connor concurred, emphasizing the terminals' multipurpose character and distinguishing disruptive solicitation from peaceful leafletting. Justice Kennedy concurred in the judgment, concluding that the public terminal areas are public forums but that the prohibition on solicitation and immediate receipt of money is a valid, narrowly tailored regulation; Justices Blackmun, Stevens, and Souter joined Part I of his opinion concerning public-forum status and literature distribution. Justice Souter, joined by Justices Blackmun and Stevens, dissented from sustaining the solicitation prohibition, finding it insufficiently tailored and lacking ample alternative channels of communication.