The Court ... required in Freedman that the censor bear the burden of going to court in order to suppress the speech and the burden of proof once in court. The licensing scheme we examine today is significantly different from the censorship scheme examined in Freedman. In Freedman, the censor engaged in direct censorship of particular expressive material. Under our First Amendment jurisprudence, such regulation of speech is presumptively invalid and, therefore, the censor in Freedman was required to carry the burden of going to court if the speech was to be suppressed and of justifying its decision once in court. Under the Dallas ordinance [in FW/PBS ], the city does not exercise discretion by passing judgment on the content of any protected speech. Rather, the city reviews the general qualifications of each license applicant, a ministerial action that is not presumptively invalid. The Court in Freedman also placed the burdens on the censor, because otherwise the motion picture distributor was likely to be deterred from challenging the decision to suppress the speech and, therefore, the censor's decision to suppress was tantamount to complete suppression of the speech. The license applicants under the Dallas scheme have much more at stake than did the motion picture distributor considered in Freedman, where only one film was censored. Because the license is the key to the applicant's obtaining and maintaining a business, there is every incentive for the applicant to pursue a license denial through *106 court. Because of these differences, we conclude that the First Amendment does not require that the city bear the burden of going to court to effect the denial of a license application or that it bear the burden of proof once in court.
[a]ny act or omission of any employee constituting a violation of the provisions of this section shall be deemed the act or omission of the operator for purposes of determining whether the operator's license shall be revoked, suspended or renewed. [Emphasis added.]
Whenever an application is denied, the City Clerk shall advise the applicant in writing of the reasons for such action. If the applicant requests a hearing within 10 days of receipt of notification of *118 denial, a public hearing shall be held within 10 days thereafter before the Council or its designated committee as hereinafter provided.
[i]n the area of freedom of expression it is well established that one has standing to challenge a statute on the ground that it delegates overly broad licensing discretion to an administrative office, whether or not his conduct could be proscribed by a properly drawn statute, and whether or not he applied for a license.
The provisions of the statutes are severable. The provisions of any session law are severable. If any provision of the statutes or of a session law is invalid, or if the application of either to any person or circumstance is invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications which can be *120 given effect without the invalid provision or application.
The City ordinances and State law shall govern the administrative procedure and review regarding the granting, denial, renewal, nonrenewal, revocation or suspension of a license.
I, too[,] believe that I can be an impartial hearer of this testimony. While I have chaired all the common council meetings, I act as a facilitator. I have not offered testimony or debate or spoke to the issue before the council at any time.
WHEREAS, on 11/30/94, 12/1/94 and 12/2/94 City News and Novelty, Inc. through its employees and/or agents violated the provisions of section 8.195(9)(b)2 of the Waukesha Municipal Code by failing to have every booth, room or cubicle totally open to a public lighted aisle so [as to] permit[ ] an unobstructed view at all times of anyone occupying the same.
End of Document | © 2024 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. |