Hurley v. Irish-American Gay Group of Boston

The Hurley decision held that privately organized parades were a form of symbolic private expression. The Supreme Court has found that symbolic speech was sufficient in some cases to deserve First Amendment protection. In 1941 the Court also determined that parades comprise such a form of protected symbolic speech, but they can also be subject to greater regulation than pure speech. For example, though laws must be nondiscriminatory in regulating parades, local governments can control when and where parades are held due to conflicts with other citizens' use of public places, such as city streets. In the 1974 Spence v. Washington case, the Court established a test to determine when actions constitute protected symbolic speech. Factors included whether a specific "particularized" message was intended, and whether an audience would be able to understand the message.

The Court in Hurley was accused of blurring distinctions regarding symbolic speech in two ways. In Hurley , the Court broadened the "particularized message" requirement by stating that "a narrow, succinctly articulable message is not a condition of constitutional speech." Though the St. Patrick's Day organizers had nothing in particular to express by its actions, still it was worthy of protected expression in the Court's eyes. Secondly, the blurring of private and public occurred in Hurley. Clearly, the Freedom of Speech Clause only applies to government actions. However, to many the St. Patrick's Day parade, held annually since the eighteenth century, was more a "civic" event than a private activity. In addition, local government action involved authorizing the private organizer, issuing a permit, and making available city streets. Yet the Court determined those factors irrelevant. The Court instead opposed the idea that government restrictions could be placed on essentially noncommercial speech and the "flow of ideas." The Court thus expanded what was considered protected speech and further confused the place of constitutional protections in what were considered by many civic parades. The Hurley decision again demonstrated the difficulty in both defining protected speech and establishing when a party has the right not to speak.

In the years following the Supreme Court ruling, Irish gay and lesbian groups in various cities continued to fight for inclusion in St. Patrick's Day parades. By the late 1990s gay and lesbian protests even began to be considered a traditional part of the events.