Letting brokers speak: real estate and free speech.

• Author: Sullum, Jacob
• Position: Citings - Brief Article

USUALLY WHEN A court refuses to recognize a privilege for professional journalists, it's seen as a defeat for the First Amendment. In one recent case, it was an unambiguous victory. In November a federal judge overturned a California law requiring any business that earns money by listing homes for sale to obtain a real estate broker's license--unless the business happens to be a newspaper.

The distinction, presumably motivated by a desire to avoid the appearance of infringing on freedom of the press, never really made sense, and with the advent of the Internet its absurdity became glaringly obvious. In response to a lawsuit filed by the Institute for Justice on behalf of ForSaleByOwner.com, U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England noted that "many newspapers now maintain websites operating in much the same manner as the site generated by FSBO"--charging property owners for listings and offering information and advice for buyers and sellers. Noting that "the distinction drawn between the two publishing mediums appears wholly arbitratry," England concluded that "California's...