| In re Primus
(No. 77-56)
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| Syllabus
| Opinion
[ Powell ] | Concurrence
[ Blackmun ] | Dissent
[ Rehnquist ] |
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PDF version | HTML version
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In re Primus
APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF SOUTH CAROLINA
MR. JUSTICE BLACKMUN, concurring.
Although I join the opinion of the Court, my understanding of the first paragraph of Part VI requires further explanation. The dicta contained in that paragraph are unnecessary to the decision of this case and its First Amendment overtones. I, for one, am not now able to delineate in the area of political solicitation the extent of state authority to proscribe misleading statements. Despite the positive language of the text, [*] [p440] footnote 33 explains that the Court also has refused to draw a line regarding misrepresentation:
We have no occasion here to delineate the precise contours of permissible state regulation. Thus, for example, a different situation might be presented if an innocent or merely negligent misstatement were made by a lawyer on behalf of an organization engaged in furthering associational or political interests.
It may well be that the State is able to proscribe such solicitation. The resolution of that issue, however, requires a balancing of the State's interests against the important First Amendment values that may lurk in even a negligent misstatement. The Court wisely has postponed this task until an appropriate case is presented and full arguments are carefully considered.
The State's special interest in regulating members of a profession it licenses, and who serve as officers of its courts, amply justifies the application of narrowly drawn rules to proscribe solicitation that in fact is misleading. . . .
Ante at 438.