Alabama Rules Of Civil Procedure (ARCP) And Constitutional Law Practice Test

In a designated public forum, the government may not exclude private speech based on its content or viewpoint. When the restriction on speech is content-based, it triggers strict scrutiny: the government must show a compelling interest and that the restriction is narrowly tailored to achieve that interest. Here, banning a placard about animal cruelty because it offends a circus targets the message itself, not merely how or when it’s displayed. That makes it a content-based restriction on private speech in a designated public forum, so strict scrutiny applies. The space is opened for expression by the public, not as government speech, so the government’s ordinary power to regulate its own messages does not govern this situation. Since the denial rests on the content (and possibly the viewpoint) of the message, it’s unlikely to satisfy strict scrutiny.