Also known as: narrowly specific · narrow tailoring · narrow construction
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A First Amendment requirement that government regulations burdening protected speech or assembly be drawn with precision to advance their asserted objectives without sweeping in substantially more expression than necessary.
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A district judge ordered the closure of a high-profile espionage trial after receiving a general national-security letter from prosecutors. Nyah Ndlovu, a reporter for a legal news service, challenged the order. The court of appeals vacated the closure because the judge had made no particularized findings showing that less restrictive alternatives would fail to protect the asserted interest.
State law required a married woman to notify her husband before obtaining an abortion and imposed related speech restrictions on clinics. Nia Nkosi, a patient seeking the procedure, sued. The court struck down the spousal-notification rule because the state had not shown that the measure was the least burdensome means of advancing its interest in potential life.
A city banned ritual animal sacrifice while permitting other forms of animal killing and imposed related speech restrictions on religious announcements. Naveen Nanda, a priest in a Santería congregation, sought an injunction. The court invalidated the ordinance because it singled out religious conduct and was not narrowly drawn to address public-health concerns.
A city ordinance prohibited possession of operable handguns in the home and imposed related speech restrictions on self-defense advocacy. Neville Norton, a resident who kept a firearm for self-defense, brought suit. The court held the ban invalid because it was not narrowly tailored to any governmental interest in public safety.
Federal regulations required cable operators to carry local broadcast stations. Nordic Ventures, a cable system owner, challenged the rules. The court upheld the requirements after finding they were narrowly drawn to advance the government's interest in preserving free television.
A village ordinance required every charitable organization to obtain a permit before soliciting door-to-door. Neil Nair, a canvasser for a nonprofit, was denied a permit because the group refused to disclose its administrative costs. The court struck down the disclosure requirement because it was not narrowly drawn to prevent fraud.
Strict or intermediate scrutiny under the First Amendment demands that a regulation be narrowly tailored, meaning it must be drawn with narrow specificity to serve the asserted interest without burdening substantially more speech than necessary.
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Narrow specificity focuses on whether the government has chosen the least restrictive means. Overbreadth analysis asks whether the regulation reaches a substantial amount of protected conduct beyond its legitimate sweep.
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The phrase is used in free-speech and free-exercise cases under the First Amendment.
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…infirmities, see, e. g. , Commodity Futures Trading Comm'n v. Schor , 478 U. S. 833, 841 (1986), and to that end we think a narrow construction is appropriate here. The termination provisions of the Act do not give the Special Division anything approaching the power to remove the counsel while an investigation or court proceeding…