MBE Rules · Constitutional Law
1A — Overbreadth doctrine
The rule
A law regulating speech is facially invalid under the First Amendment if it prohibits a substantial amount of protected speech relative to its plainly legitimate sweep. A litigant may challenge such a law even if their own conduct is unprotected. Does not apply to commercial speech.
In plain English
A rare exception to normal standing/facial-challenge rules — because overbroad speech laws chill protected expression, anyone hit by the statute may attack it in full, even someone the statute could constitutionally reach.
The trap
Extending overbreadth to non-speech statutes or to commercial speech — it doesn't.
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