Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York

Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued October 16, 1996 Decided February 19, 1997
Full case name	Paul Schenck and Dwight Saunders, Petitioners v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York, et al.
Citations	519 U.S. 357 (more) 117 S. Ct. 855
Holding
The injunction provisions imposing "fixed buffer zone" limitations are constitutional, but the provisions imposing "floating buffer zone" limitations violate the First Amendment.
Court membership
Chief Justice William Rehnquist Associate Justices John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy David Souter · Clarence Thomas Ruth Bader Ginsburg · Stephen Breyer
Case opinions
Majority	Rehnquist, joined by unanimous court
Concur/dissent	Scalia, joined by Kennedy, Thomas
Concur/dissent	Breyer

Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York, 519 U.S. 357 (1997), was a case heard before the United States Supreme Court. It ruled in an 8-1 decision that speech-free "buffer zones" around abortion clinics were constitutional. The Court held that "fixed buffer zones" were constitutional, but "floating buffer zones" were not.

Paul Schenck challenged a Federal District Court injunction that restricted "sidewalk counselors" from approaching abortion clinic patients and others with Bibles, tracts and pro-life messages. The Court ruled in Schenck's favor, striking down the restrictions as a fundamental violation of the First Amendment right of Freedom of Speech.

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 519
• List of United States Supreme Court cases
• Lists of United States Supreme Court cases by volume

Further reading

• Hostetler, Darrin Alan (1997). "Face-to-Face with the First Amendment: Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network and the Right to ‘Approach and Offer’ in Abortion Clinic Protests". Stanford Law Review (Stanford Law Review, Vol. 50, No. 1) 50 (1): 179–223. doi:10.2307/1229361. JSTOR 1229361. 

External links

• PBS NewsHour: "Drawing the Line"
• Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York on Cornell Law
• Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York on the California Anti-SLAPP Project
• Schenck v. Pro-Choice October 16, 1996
• Paul Schenck and Dwight Saunders, Petitioners v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York et al. on the Boston College Free Speech Library