States v. Grace

In States v. Grace, 461 U.S. 171, 179, 75 L. Ed. 2d 736, 103 S. Ct. 1702 (1983), the United States Supreme Court addressed the ability of the government to redefine certain public sidewalks in front of the United States Supreme Court Building as a non-public forum. There was no separation, fence or any other indication to persons entering the sidewalks that served as the perimeter of the Court grounds that they entered a non-public forum. "The sidewalks comprising the outer boundaries of the Court grounds are indistinguishable from any other sidewalks in Washington D.C., and . . . there is no reason why they should be treated any differently." Id. at 179. The Court held that: "Congress, no more than a suburban township, may not by its own ipse dixit destroy the 'public forum' status of streets and parks which have historically been public forums. . . ." The inclusion of the public sidewalks within the scope of 13k's prohibition, however, results in the destruction of public forum status that is at least presumptively impermissible. Traditional public forum property occupies a special position in terms of First Amendment protection and will not lose its historically recognized character for the reason that it abuts government property that has been dedicated to a use other than as a forum for public expression. Nor may the government transform the character of the property by the expedient of including it within the statutory definition of what might be considered a non-public forum parcel of property. Id. at 180.