The First Amendment protects speech and provides for freedom of expression, restraining government power in locations like public sidewalks, streets, and other publicly owned areas.
The Bill of Rights gives individuals in these places the freedom to distribute ideas either in writing or orally.
All laws concerning speech must be content and viewpoint neutral. This means statutes must not state, imply, or intend to regulate speech because of a disagreement with its message or idea.
Protecting spoken words, this does not prohibit laws that govern the surrounding circumstances in which the speech occurs. Put differently, the Constitution limits the power to regulate what people say, but it does not entirely curtail the police power in "the marketplace" of ideas.
Indeed, the law balances individual liberty with the government’s duty to protect the health and safety of its citizens. As a result, the government may regulate the time, place, or manner of protected speech. This means the government may regulate when, where, and how speech may occur.
Even so, this is not unbridled government power. On the contrary, freedom of speech is a fundamental right.
Even though the government may regulate as to time, place, or manner, these laws must be narrowly tailored to a legitimate, content-neutral government interest. Futhermore, they must be the least restrictive means of serving a given legislative goal while leaving open ample alternative channels for communication.
Brown v. Pittsburgh (3d Cir. 2009).
