Commonwealth v. Hyatt

By Judge A. Bonwill Shockley

The two defendants in these related cases each stand charged with a violation of Code of Virginia § 18.2-419 for picketing in a residential area on or about May 10, 1995. The offenses charged constitute Class 3 misdemeanors. The defendants have moved to dismiss the charges on the grounds that the statute involved violates rights to free speech protected by the First Amendment and is therefore unconstitutional. The Commonwealth argues that the statute is not unconstitutional or, in the alternative, that it can be made constitutional by severing one invalid part. For…