For decades the Supreme Court has repeatedly held that religious speech is, like other types of speech, protected by the Free Speech Clause; accordingly, the Court has also consistently held that the government may not silence such speech simply because it expresses a religious viewpoint. Despite this well-settled law, local officials in Contra Costa County, California, specifically barred religious speech from a forum that the county had opened broadly for expressive activities: while the county opened library meeting rooms for every manner of educational, cultural, or community-related meetings or programs, it expressly excluded from those forums any speech that amounted to a “religious service.” Cato’s brief, authored by a team of lawyers from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, urges the Supreme Court to review a decision of the Ninth Circuit ratifying this blatant viewpoint discrimination. Cato’s brief also highlights the need for the Supreme Court to clarify its public-forum doctrine, a doctrine that, although fundamental in a large swath of free-speech cases, has led to widespread confusion among the Courts of Appeals as to the amount of protection the Free Speech Clause provides when speech occurs on public property.