Case Title
Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless v. City of Cleveland, 522 U.S. 931 (1997)
Document Type
Briefs and Court Filings
Publication Date
1997
Keywords
peddlers, fee, homeless, street vendors, newspaper, license, first amendment, freedom of speech
Repository Citation
O'Neill, Kevin F.; Goldberger, David; Vasvari, Raymond V.; and Englund, Joan M., "Petition for Writ of Certiorari, Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, et al., v. City of Cleveland, 522 U.S. 931 (1997)" (1997). Law Faculty Briefs and Court Documents. 10.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/fac_briefs/10
Comments
I. By Holding that Municipalities May Impose a Flat , Fifty-Dollar-Per-Vendor License Fee as a Precondition to the Sidewalk Distribution of Political and Religious "Street" Newspapers, the Opinion Flouts Fifty Years of First Amendment Precedent - Including this Court's Controlling Decision in Murdock v. Pennsylvania.
II. The Opinion Creates an Irreconcilable Conflict in the Circuits.
III. The Opinion Erects Unprecedented Barriers to Sidewalk Speech by Upholding the Instant Fee in the Face of these Undisputed Facts: Petitioners Are Either Homeless or Indigent Proselytizers for the Nation of Islam Who Cannot Afford to Pay the Fee, and the Licensing Scheme that Imposes the Fee is Bereft of an Indigency Exception.