NH Law About ...: Quick Guide: Residential Picketing: Residential Picketing

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Introduction

On December 22, 2020, the Town of Newfields enacted an ordinance prohibiting residential picketing. The meeting minutes (see link below) explain the reasons for enacting the ordinance and include information from the New Hampshire Attorney General's office regarding the constitutionality of the ordinance.

About Picketing

The First Amendment Encyclopedia. Picketing
"Picketing occurs when a person or a group of people stands, marches, or patrols inside, in front of, or about any premise with the intent to persuade an occupant or patron of the premise regarding some point of view or to protest an action, attitude, or belief. Since Thornhill v. Alabama (1940), courts have held that picketing is a form of expression that triggers First Amendment review."
The First Amendment Encyclopedia. Protests in Neighborhoods
"Many municipalities have enacted ordinances limiting or banning targeted protests in residential areas, particularly those that target individual homes. ... In Frisby v. Schultz (1988), the Supreme Court narrowly upheld a residential picketing ban enacted by the town of Brookfield, Wisconsin."
Cornell Legal Information Institute. Doctrine and Practice of Symbolic Speech: Overview. Public Issue Picketing and Parading
[after clicking this link, scroll down to subheading "Public Issue Picketing and Parading"] "[T]he Court upheld a ban on residential picketing in Frisby v. Shultz, finding that the city ordinance was narrowly tailored to serve the “significant” governmental interest in protecting residential privacy."
Constitutional Law - Freedom of Speech - Ban on Picketing in Front of Individual Residence Does Not Violate First Amendment. 11 U. Ark. Little Rock L.J. 691 (1988)

Town of Newfields. Select Board. Meeting Minutes. Tuesday December 8, 2020
"This ordinance will go a long way to provide a simple solution. It serves two important purposes. The first, preserving the tranquility of the homes of the residents in the area. The US Supreme Court recognized that one cannot weaponize the First Amendment to force your way into a home of another person. This ordinance is near verbatim to one that the Supreme Court had affirmed in a prior case."

Local Ordinances

Town of Newfields. Ordinance. Residential Picketing prohibited

Federal Cases

Frisby v. Schultz, 487 U.S. 474 (1988)
"The First Amendment permits the government to prohibit offensive speech as intrusive when the "captive" audience cannot avoid the objectionable speech. ... The resident is figuratively, and perhaps literally, trapped within the home, and because of the unique and subtle impact of such picketing is left with no ready means of avoiding the unwanted speech."

United States Constitution

United States Constitution. First Amendment
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Please remember that this guide is for information purposes only and is not comprehensive.
It is intended as a starting point for research, to illustrate the various sources of the law, and to provide guidance in their use.
NH Law About ... is not a substitute for the services of an attorney.