Did the gag order on Geragos encompass the boat displays speech?
To begin, it’s an interesting question whether the judge’s gag order even encompasses putting the boat display by the courthouse. After all, the order gagged speech – not conduct. Which leads to an interesting question: Did the boat display constitute speech by Geragos (assuming he did put it there)? Even Thompson, in his bar complaint against Geragos, deemed the boat display “non-verbal communication” – differentiating it from pure speech. And Supreme Court precedents equivocate over when conduct also counts as speech. Consider, for instance, the Court’s opinion in Barnes v. Glen Theatre, which suggests that nude dancing only barely, and marginally, counts as First-Amendment protected speech. Moreover, when the Court has found conduct to count as speech, that conduct has often conveyed a fairly clear message. For instance, flag-burning – upheld, in a 5-4 vote, as constitutionally protected speech in Texas v. Johnson — conveys an anti-government message. What message — if any — was
