In 1943, the United States Supreme Court considered the
constitutionality of an ordinance that prohibited door knocking in
Martin v. Struthers, 319 U.S. 141 (1943). The Supreme
Court, in its landmark free speech decision, concluded that the
ordinance was invalid because it was in conflict with the freedom
of speech and press. The Supreme Court's decision was clear:
"Freedom to distribute information to every citizen wherever
he desires to receives it is so clearly vital to the preservation
of a free society that . . . it must be fully preserved."
Forty-eight years later, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act
(TCPA) was passed, prohibiting, under certain circumstances, calls
to a cell phone using an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS)
or artificial or prerecorded voice without the prior express
consent of the called party. The TCPA created expansive
restrictions on speech in the country, and has been viewed as
contrary to the Supreme Court's instruction in Martin
