Privatizing Public Forums to Eliminate Dissent

Abstract

In each of the past several presidential campaigns, the candidates have tried to suppress dissent at public forum rallies using a tactic that Ronald Reagan pioneered and George W. Bush perfected. Under this tactic, the candidate's advance team privatizes a public square or public park by securing a municipal permit for the rally date that authorizes the expulsion of any citizen who manifests support for the rival candidate. On the day of the rally, Secret Service agents systematically expel any citizen who manifests the wrong viewpoint. This tactic for eliminating public forum dissent has generated only a handful of reported cases -- and it has never been successfully challenged. My thesis is that, under the First Amendment, neither the government nor its permittee may effect the viewpoint-based expulsion of citizens from a traditional public forum. If a presidential campaign wants to stage an appearance where every member of the audience has been screened to ensure unanimous support for the candidate, then the event should be held on private property, where the First Amendment does not apply.