WSHC+B partner and Chair of the Firm’s Appellate Practice Group, Edward Guedes, obtained a rare unanimous en banc victory, on behalf of the City of Homestead in a First Amendment case before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Ed and the team, including Jeremy Rosner, Anne Flanigan, and Matt Mandel, successfully argued that local governments can impose reasonable restrictions on speech during public meetings without violating constitutional rights. The ruling establishes that limitations on speech are often necessary to prevent disruption, maintain order, and ensure relevant discussions during public meetings such as city council sessions.
Speaking to the Daily Business Review, Ed emphasized the importance of this decision: “Absent these restrictions, a public hearing can devolve into chaos as anyone could use limited public hearing time to engage in irrelevant topics or behave inappropriately, distracting from government business.”
This decision establishes a new precedent for the Eleventh Circuit, aligning it with U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence on municipal elected body meetings as limited public forums subject to reasonable, content-neutral speech restrictions.
Ed is Board Certified in Appellate Practice by the Florida Bar and is chair of the firm’s Appellate Practice Group. He has litigated dozens of appeals before the Florida Supreme Court, Florida’s district courts of appeal, and the U.S. Courts of Appeals in a wide variety of matters, including medical malpractice, premises liability, probate, First Amendment and constitutional litigation, family law, state and federal administrative rule-making and regulation, home rule authority and preemption, election law, civil rights, land use and zoning, intellectual property, and labor and employment issues.
Read the full article in the Daily Business Review here: https://www.law.com/dailybusinessreview/2024/09/17/eleventh-circuit-upholds-limits-on-public-comments-during-city-council-meetings/
