Return Fire: An En Banc Hearing in Wollschlaeger v. Governor of Florida Is Necessary to Protect the First Amendment Rights of Physicians

Abstract

In 2014, in Wollschlaeger v. Governor of Florida, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that a Florida ban on physician speech about firearm ownership was a valid regulation of professional conduct. The court reasoned that because the speech took place within the physician-patient relationship it should be treated as professional conduct that may be regulated by the state and not subject to First Amendment scrutiny. This Comment argues that the Eleventh Circuit mischaracterized the speech as conduct and that an en banc hearing should be granted to reverse this decision to avoid a negative impact on physicians’ First Amendment rights.