Limited-Government Seekers Slam Berkeley RF Disclosure Law at Supreme Court

Free-market and limited-government supporters backed CTIA's Supreme Court challenge of a Berkeley, California, ordinance requiring retailers to inform prospective cellphone buyers that carrying their devices in certain ways can cause exposure to RF radiation exceeding federal limits (see 1801240050). "The right not to speak is an essential part of the liberty guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments -- and ... when someone is forced to act as a mouthpiece for particular government ideas, that warrants the most rigorous judicial review,” wrote the Cato Institute, Competitive Enterprise Institute and Cause of Action Institute in case 17-976. They said the Supreme Court should “clarify that all government attempts to impose content-based speech mandates are subject to rigorous First Amendment scrutiny.” Response is due March 1, the court said.