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Constitutional Law • First Amendment - Free Speech
CONLAW#145
Legal Definition
No. City officials cannot have discretion in setting permit fees for public demonstrations.
Plain English Explanation
Standards help not only make free speech situations more predictable, but prevent abuse from officials who are trying to prevent speech from happening. Imagine if a Christian government official had the discretion to decide on which fees were charged for use of a public park. If that were allowed, nothing would prevent them from charging $1 to allow demonstrations celebrating Christianity and $100,000 for those who wanted to demonstrate and celebrate other religions. Because people generally suck and can't be trusted when it comes to fairness, the law requires defined standards rather than discretion when it comes to determining fees (or applying the law in general).
Related Concepts
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