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In re Primus (docket #: 77-56) (1978)  [Findlaw]

Secondary Link In re Primus  [Legal Information Institute]
Argument Date 01/16/1978
Decided 5/30/1978
Supreme Court Vote 5-2-1
Supreme Court Ruling First Amendment claim upheld
 
IssueWhether the sanctioning of an ACLU lawyer for informng a woman through direct mail about legal assistance available from the ACLU violated speech and associational freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment.
Majority Opinion Powell, J. (Brennan, J. not participating)
Concurring Opinion Blackmun, J., & Marshall, J. (concurring in part and concurring in the judgment)
Dissenting Opinion Rehnquist, J.
Lower Court South Carolina Supreme Court
Lower Court Ruling First Amendment claim denied
Lawyers
For Petitioner
Ray P. McClain

For Respondent
Richard B. Kale, Jr., Assistant Attorney General of South Carolina

Briefs
For Amicus
Girardeau A. Spann and Alan B. Morrison for Public Citizen et al.

Herbert M. Rosenthal and Stuart A. Forsyth for the State Bar of California

Ruling - Lower Court
268 S. C. 259, 233 S. E. 2d 301
News
Auerbach, Stuart, "Court Is Asked to Allow Lawyers to Solicit Clients,"The Washington Post, Jan. 17, 1978, Sect. A, p. 4
Falk, Carol H., "Top Court Bars Soliciting Law Clients For Fees, but Not for Public-Interest Case," The Wall Street Journal, May 31, 1978, p. 6
Fuller, Jack, "High Court Limits Lawyer Soliciting," The Chicago Tribune, May 31, 1978, p. 2
Hager, Philip, "Solicitation a Touchy Issue for Lawyers," The Los Angeles Times, Oct. 11, 1977, p. 1
Weaver, Warren, Jr., "Lawyers Given Guide on Soliciting Clients," The New York Times, May 31, 1978, p. 25
Other
"First Amendment: Attorney Solicitation," 69 J. of Criminal Law and Criminolgy 505 (1978)
Brody, Steven G. & Johnson, Bruce E. H., ADVERTISING AND COMMERCIAL SPEECH: A FIRST AMENDMENT GUIDE (2ND ED., 2006), sect. 3.9
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