First Amendment Banned From Supreme Court's Plaza

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the First Amendment rights of protesters to convene at the funerals of soldiers and at abortion clinics, The New York Times' Adam Liptak notes in a Sidebar column. But the right of protest does not extend to the plaza outside the Supreme Court. The D.C. Circuit has heard arguments on whether the law banning protests on the plaza can comport with the First Amendment.

"People with power and connections can use the plaza" for commercial or professional filming or when attorneys and parties address the media on the plaza immediately after oral argument before the justices, Liptak writes. But ordinary protesters cannot.