[JURIST] A federal appeals court Wednesday upheld [opinion, PDF] a Massachusetts law [text] prohibiting people from protesting directly outside of abortion clinics. The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit [official website] ruled that the law, which creates a 35-foot buffer zone around entrances and exits of reproductive health clinics, was a reasonable response to a significant threat to public safety. The challenge to the statute alleged a First Amendment [Cornell LII backgrounder] violation, but the court rejected that claim, affirming the district court's decision [opinion, PDF] and holding that the law merely regulated the time, place and manner in which speech may occur. The court reasoned:

The correct inquiry is whether, in light of the totality of the circumstances, a time-place-manner regulation burdens substantially more speech than necessary and, concomitantly, whether such a regulation leaves open adequate alternative channels of communication. ... [T]he 2007 Act places no burden at all on the plaintiffs' activities outside the 35-foot buffer zone. They can speak, gesticulate, wear screen-printed T-shirts, display signs, use loudspeakers, and engage in the whole gamut of lawful expressive activities. Those messages may be seen and heard by individuals entering, departing, or within the buffer zone. ... Any willing listener is at liberty to leave the zone, approach those outside it, and request more information.