Door-to-Door Solicitor Curb Ruled Illegal

Local communities may not limit door-to-door solicitation to those hours when most working people are not at home, the Supreme Court ruled today.

The justices, by a 6-3 vote, upheld a ruling that such a city ordinance in Watseka, Ill., violated free-speech rights.

The court’s decision was made without hearing oral arguments in the case, and without a written opinion. But it nevertheless sets a national precedent.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Byron R. White and Sandra Day O’Connor dissented, voting to study the case more closely before deciding it.

Limited to 9 to 5

After receiving complaints from some residents, the Watseka City Council in 1979 barred residential soliciting for any reason prior to 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m. Soliciting on Sundays and holidays was banned.

In 1981, a representative of the Illinois Public Action Council requested permission to conduct a two-month, door-to-door political canvass between the hours of 4 and 9 p.m. each week day.

IPAC is a nonprofit organization that represents low- and moderate-income people in energy, tax and economic development matters.

The organization uses such canvasses to obtain new members, educate the public and identify voters who will support its positions. Its representatives contended its efforts would be most effective after 5 p.m., when working people are generally home.

Court Blocks Ordinance

When IPAC threatened to sue Watseka over the soliciting ban, the city sued in an effort to have the ordinance declared valid.

A federal trial judge blocked enforcement of the ordinance and ordered Watseka to pay $8,300 in damages and $9,749 in lawyer fees and court costs.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling by a 2-1 vote last July 18.

The appeals court said Watseka went too far in seeking to promote privacy of the home and to prevent crime.

In other action, the court:

--Agreed to review the power of public school officials to censor student newspapers published as part of a school’s curriculum.

--Let stand a ruling that bars anti-abortion protesters from picketing in front of an abortion clinic.

--Refused to say women have a constitutional right to attend health club aerobics classes--and perform “sexually suggestive” exercises--without men present.

--In a case affecting export of American high technology, allowed an Australian family to sue in a California court the maker of an allegedly defective mechanical heart valve.

--Refused to revive a $1.25-million lawsuit charging the government with negligently predicting the weather.