1995 United States Supreme Court case
Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation , 513 U.S. 374 (1995), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that Amtrak is a government agency and is thus subject to the First Amendment . The Court issued its decision in a 8–1 vote, with seven justices joining the majority opinion authored by Antonin Scalia . The lone dissent came from Justice Sandra Day O'Connor .
Michael A. Lebron rented a large billboard in Amtrak's Penn Station . The advertisement was highly critical of the Coors Brewing Company for their support of the Contras in Nicaragua. The railroad turned down the ad because it was political, although the particular point of view was not an issue.
The District Court ruled that Amtrak, because of its close ties to the Federal Government, was a Government actor for First Amendment purposes, and that its rejection of the display was unconstitutional. The Court of Appeals reversed, noting that Amtrak was, by the terms of the legislation that created it, not a Government entity, and concluding that the Government was not so involved with Amtrak that the latter's decisions could be considered federal action.[ 1]
Even though Amtrak is not incorporated as a government agency, it largely functions as one. Similar to the ruling in Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority , the court found that the public and private entities functioned together to the point where Amtrak was covered by the First Amendment .
Later, in Department of Transportation v. Association of American Railroads , the court held that Amtrak is a governmental entity for purposes of determining the validity of the metrics and standards.
Public displays and ceremonies Statutory religious exemptions Public funding Religion in public schools Private religious speech Internal church affairs Taxpayer standing Blue laws Other
Unprotected speech
Incitement and sedition Defamation andfalse speech Fighting words and the heckler's veto True threats Obscenity Rosen v. United States (1896) United States v. One Book Called Ulysses (S.D.N.Y. 1933) Roth v. United States (1957) One, Inc. v. Olesen (1958) Smith v. California (1959) Marcus v. Search Warrant (1961) MANual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day (1962) Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964) Quantity of Books v. Kansas (1964) Ginzburg v. United States (1966) Memoirs v. Massachusetts (1966) Redrup v. New York (1967) Ginsberg v. New York (1968) Stanley v. Georgia (1969) United States v. Thirty-seven Photographs (1971) Kois v. Wisconsin (1972) Miller v. California (1973) Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton (1973) United States v. 12 200-ft. Reels of Film (1973) Jenkins v. Georgia (1974) Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad (1975) Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville (1975) Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. (1976) Vance v. Universal Amusement Co., Inc. (1980) American Booksellers Ass'n, Inc. v. Hudnut (7th Cir. 1985) People v. Freeman (Cal. 1988) United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. (1994) Reno v. ACLU (1997) United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc. (2000) City of Los Angeles v. Alameda Books, Inc. (2002) Ashcroft v. ACLU I (2002) United States v. American Library Ass'n (2003) Ashcroft v. ACLU II (2004) Nitke v. Gonzales (S.D.N.Y. 2005) United States v. Williams (2008) American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression v. Strickland (6th Cir. 2009) United States v. Kilbride (9th Cir. 2009) United States v. Stevens (2010) Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Ass'n (2011) FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. (2012) Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton (2025) Speech integral to criminal conduct
Strict scrutiny Overbreadth Vagueness Symbolic speech versus conductContent-based restrictions Content-neutral restrictions
Compelled speech Compelled subsidy of others' speech
Government grants and subsidies Government as speaker Loyalty oaths School speech Public employees Hatch Act and similar lawsLicensing and restriction of speech Commercial speech Valentine v. Chrestensen (1942) Rowan v. U.S. Post Office Dept. (1970) Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Comm'n on Human Relations (1973) Lehman v. Shaker Heights (1974) Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar (1975) Bigelow v. Virginia (1975) Virginia State Pharmacy Bd. v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (1976) Linmark Assoc., Inc. v. Township of Willingboro (1977) Carey v. Population Services International (1977) Bates v. State Bar of Arizona (1977) In re Primus (1978) Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Association (1978) Friedman v. Rogers (1979) Consol. Edison Co. v. Public Serv. Comm'n (1980) Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission (1980) Metromedia, Inc. v. San Diego (1981) In re R.M.J. (1982) Hoffman Estates v. The Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc. (1982) Zauderer v. Off. of Disciplinary Counsel of Supreme Court of Ohio (1985) Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Utilities Comm'n of California (1986) Posadas de Puerto Rico Assoc. v. Tourism Co. of Puerto Rico (1986) San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. U.S. Olympic Committee (1987) Shapero v. Kentucky Bar Association (1988) Riley v. Nat'l Fed'n of the Blind (1988) State University of New York v. Fox (1989) Peel v. Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of Illinois (1990) City of Cincinnati v. Discovery Network (1993) Edenfield v. Fane (1993) United States v. Edge Broadcasting Co. (1993) Ibanez v. Florida Dept. of Business and Professional Regulation, Bd. of Accountancy (1994) Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corp. (1995) Rubin v. Coors Brewing Co. (1995) Florida Bar v. Went For It, Inc. (1995) 44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island (1996) Glickman v. Wileman Brothers & Elliot, Inc. (1997) Greater New Orleans Broadcasting Assn., Inc. v. United States (1999) Los Angeles Police Department v. United Reporting Publishing Co. (1999) United States v. United Foods Inc. (2001) Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly (2001) Thompson v. Western States Medical Center (2002) Nike, Inc. v. Kasky (2003) Johanns v. Livestock Marketing Ass'n (2005) Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Assn. v. Brentwood Academy (2007) Milavetz, Gallop & Milavetz, P.A. v. United States (2010) Jerman v. Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer & Ulrich LPA (2010) Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc. (2011) Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman (2017) Matal v. Tam (2017) Iancu v. Brunetti (2019) Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants (2020) Vidal v. Elster (2024) Campaign finance and political speechAnonymous speech State action Official retaliation Boycotts Prisons
Organizations Future Conduct Solicitation Membership restriction Primaries and elections