Board of Airport Commissioners of Los Angeles v. Jews for Jesus, Inc.

Board of Airport Commissioners of Los Angeles v. Jews for Jesus, Inc.
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued March 3, 1987 Decided June 15, 1987
Full case name	Board of Airport Commissioners of Los Angeles v. Jews for Jesus, Inc.
Citations	482 U.S. 569 (more) 107 S. Ct. 2568; 96 L. Ed. 2d 500; 1987 U.S. LEXIS 2619; 55 U.S.L.W. 4855
Prior history	Cert. to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Holding
A resolution banning all "First Amendment activities" at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) violates the First Amendment.
Court membership
Chief Justice William Rehnquist Associate Justices William J. Brennan, Jr. · Byron White Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun Lewis F. Powell, Jr. · John P. Stevens Sandra Day O'Connor · Antonin Scalia
Case opinions
Majority	O'Connor, joined by unanimous
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amends. I, XIV

Board of Airport Commissioners of Los Angeles v. Jews for Jesus, Inc., 482 U.S. 569 (1987), is a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that an ordinance prohibiting all "First Amendment activities" in the Los Angeles International Airport was facially unconstitutional due to its overbreadth.

The unanimous opinion was written by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. O'Connor wrote that the ordinance "reaches the universe of expressive activity, and, by prohibiting all protected expression, purports to create a virtual 'First Amendment Free Zone' at LAX". The Airport Commissioners argued that the ordinance would only be applied against activities that were related to the airport, but O'Connor pointed out that "wearing of a T-shirt or button that contains a political message" would still fall within the prohibition.

In a brief concurrence, Justice White expressed his concern that the decision did not address the question of whether the airport constituted a public forum.

External links

• Text of the opinion, findlaw.com