ABSTRACT
Standard First Amendment free speech analysis divides cases into two major groups. One group consists of those cases that Laurence Tribe has labeled "track one" cases. In track one cases, the government's concern expressed in the challenged regulation is the communicative impact of speech, the messages that the audience for the speech will receive. Track one analysis, inquiring what governmental purposes are legitimate bases for interdicting the receipt of messages, and what means the government may employ to accomplish those purposes, is difficult, complex, and controversial. Track two cases have traditionally been broken into two subcategories: the public forum cases and the symbolic speech cases. Even a comprehensive normative theory underlying the First Amendment will be too strong to be a track two tool, since it will usually endorse a set of track two laws on grounds independent of information gain and loss.
