Wirzburger v. Galvin
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
412 F.3d 271 (2005)

- Written by Joe Cox, JD
Facts
Michael Wirzburger (plaintiff) was one part of a group of parents of children enrolled in private schools with religious affiliations who sought to bring a ballot-initiative petition to amend Massachusetts law prohibiting financial support for private primary or secondary schools. The proposed initiative would have allowed the state to provide loans, grants, or tax benefits to students attending private schools, irrespective of any religious affiliations. The attorney general denied certification of the initiative both because the specific law contained a prohibition against its amendment by initiative and because religious institutions were expressly included from the initiative process. Wirzburger then filed suit against the Massachusetts secretary of state (defendant), arguing that those limitations violated the Free Speech Clause, the Free Exercise Clause, and the Equal Protection Clause under the US Constitution. The trial court dismissed the suit, and Wirzburger appealed that ruling, arguing that because those initiative limitations regarded free speech, they should be considered by a reviewing court on a strict-scrutiny basis. The government disagreed, asserting the legitimate policy basis for allowing certain types of matters to be excluded from the initiative process. One more moderate standard is the intermediate-scrutiny standard, under which a free-speech restriction is allowed if it: 1) is within the government’s constitutional power, 2) furthers a substantial or important government interest, 3) furthers an interest unrelated to the suppression of free expression, and 4) restricts First Amendment freedoms no more than is essential to the governmental interest.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Torruella, J.)
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