There are several types of public forums where free speech rights apply to different degrees. Classical forums like streets and parks allow broad expressive activity and exclusion based on subject matter or viewpoint is prohibited. Dedicated forums made for expressive purposes have similar protections. Limited purpose forums, like municipal auditoriums, can restrict activity to specific categories but not viewpoints within those categories. Non-public forums have the most flexibility for subject matter restrictions and possibly viewpoint restrictions as well. The degree of allowed speech restriction decreases moving from non-public to classical forums, but other factors like economics and politics also influence forum policies.

1. Regulating the Public Forum

2. Types of Forums
• Classical or quintessential: streets and parks
• Dedicated: made available for a “wide range” of expressive
purposes
– Exclusion of subject-matter or viewpoint is impermissible
– What counts as a viewpoint?
• “Religion” in Rosenberger is a viewpoint, not a subject-matter
• Limited-purpose: made available for a subcategory of expressive
activity
– Municipal auditorium for musical performances but not political rallies or
motivational speakers
– What’s the scope of the category
• “Family-friendly” performances?
• Non-public forums [better labeled “not a public forum”]
– Subject-matter discrimination allowed (Lehman)
– Viewpoint discrimination might be allowed (Forbes, the cadidate debate
case)

3. Evaluation
• Reduction in amount of speech
• Risk of disparate impact?
– Increases as you move down from quintessential to non-public forums
– Perhaps offset by other values
• Constraints on governments from sources other than constitutional
law
– Economics: need to cover overhead costs of auditorium and buses
• Will adopt policies that maximize income, which might reduce risk of
disparate impact/discrimination
– Politics
• Some constituents will want access to the venue
• For all but non-public forums, the cost of giving them access is giving
everyone else (in the relevant category) access
• Limits of politics in non-public forums, as in Forbes, where a serious
candidate is excluded from the debates, or in bus advertising for Christian
but not Jewish or Muslim services