The First Amendment Lawyers Association (FALA) has joined with TechFreedom and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) in filing an amicus brief in Diamond SJ Enterprise, Inc. v. City of San Jose

The First Amendment Lawyers Association today announces its opposition to the adoption, by the Ohio Department of Health, of proposed rules that would drastically curtail the ability of physicians to provide care to transgender patients or to provide patients with “any resources or information on where or how to receive such care,” in blatant derogation of physicians’ freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment.

The First Amendment Lawyers Association deeply mourns the untimely death of our long-time member and dear friend, Reed C. Lee, of Chicago, Illinois, who suddenly passed away on December 26th.

Reed was a giant among this generation of First Amendment lawyers. Among other pivotal roles that he played at FALA, he previously served as our President and National Chair, and currently as our Treasurer and member of our Board of Directors. He was also a long-time and active member of the Free Speech Coalition, where he served on the Board for over 20 years.

Reed Lee was born in 1955. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Illinois; and was awarded the degree of Juris Doctor by the Case Western Reserve University School of Law. After being admitted to the Illinois bar in 1985, Reed briefly worked as an associate at Asher, Pavalon, Gittler & Greenfield, where he defended worker’s rights. After that he shifted his focus to the First Amendment and free expression. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s he worked with Deidre Baumann at Null and Associates. In the mid 1990s, he connected with former FALA member J.D. Odenberger with whom he worked until J.D. passed in 2020. After that Reed continued his First Amendment work as a sole practitioner.

He often advised activists including the Rainbow Coalition, adult bookstores, and adult film production companies. If you Google “Reed Lee,” you will not find a long list of results. Despite Reed’s early interest in computers and the fact that he was posting on computer bulletin boards long before any of the rest of us heard of the World Wide Web, Reed was decidedly analog. He famously refused to review material on a computer screen––always preferring to print out cases and briefs. If you bumped into him on the street he would undoubtedly be carrying a large iced tea in one hand and a book in the other. A lawyer new to FALA recently asked, “does Reed even have a Westlaw account?” The answer was no, but are certain the local law librarians knew him on a first name basis. When Reed attended FALA conferences, he famously would visit any nearby presidential libraries, or specialty bookstores. For example, he would not visit San Francisco without stopping at the famous City Lights Bookstore to take a browse through the shelves and enjoy an IPA. Tattered Cover Books in Denver was another favorite. Reed was also an appreciated mentor to many young lawyers and students.

Reed filed amicus briefs for FALA in:

United States v. Alvarez (2012) 567 U.S. 709, on FALA’s amicus brief with Allen Lichtenstein
St. Michael’s Media, Inc. v. Mayor & City Council of Balt. (4th Cir. Nov. 3, 2021, No. 21-2158) 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 39004, on FALA’s amicus brief with FALA President D. Gill Sperlein
And was counsel on numerous reported cases, often in collaboration with other FALA attorneys, including:

Mannheim Video, Inc. v. County of Cook (7th Cir. 1989) 884 F.2d 1043, with Michael Null and Adam Bourgeois (upholding District Court’s Younger abstention and order denying sanctions)
North Ave. Novelties v. City of Chicago (7th Cir. 1996) 88 F.3d 441, with Deidre Baumann
Matney v. County of Kenosha (7th Cir. 1996) 86 F.3d 692, with Deidre Baumann
BBI Enters. V. City of Chicago (N.D.Ill. 1995) 874 F.Supp. 890, with Deidre Baumann
Cady v. City of Chicago (7th Cir. 1994) 43 F.3d 326, with Deidre Baumann (upholding denial of 1988 fees in 1st A. case)
3708 North Ave. Corp. v. Village of Stone Park (N.D.Ill. Feb. 20, 1996, No. 94 C 7267) 1996 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 2080, with Deidre Baumann (finding permitting scheme for nude dancing was unconstitutional due to unbridled discretion)
McClelland v. McGrath (N.D.Ill. 1998) 31 F.Supp.2d 616, with J.D. Odenberg (denying in part defendant’s motion for summary judgment for claims stemming from unwarranted wiretap)
Black v. Arthur (9th Cir. 2000) 201 F.3d 1120, with J.D. Odenberger (successfully challenging permit requirement that permit application be signed by a Rainbow Family member)
Wright v. County of Du Page (2000) 316 Ill.App. 3d 28, with J.D. Odenberger (finding nude massage business was not expressive)
Palmetto Props., Inc. v. County of DuPage (N.D.Ill. 2001), 160 F.Supp.2d 876, with J.D. Odenberger (finding unconstitutional an ordinance prohibiting strip club within 1000 feet of forest preserves)
Palmetto Props., Inc. v. County of Dupage (7th Cir. 2004) 375 F.3d 542, with J.D. Odenberger (upholding award of attorneys’ fees in 1st A. case)
41 News, Inc. v. County of Lake (N.D.Ill. Feb. 24, 2010, No. 09 C 0088) 2010 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 17448, with J.D. Odenberger, dismissing challenge to adult zoning ordinance
Camelot Banquet Rooms, Inc. v. United States SBA (7th Cir. 2022) 24 F.4th 640, with FALA members Brad Shafer, Zachary Youngsma, Matt Hoffer and Jeff Scott Olson (upholding PPP program provision excluding adult businesses)
Huntingdon Life Sciences, Inc. v. Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (App.Div.) 2006 NY Slip Op 1580
This list, as impressive as it is, does not begin to reflect Reed’s impact on free expression jurisprudence. He was actively involved in the FSC’s challenges to the CPPA and 18 USC §2257 and its current cases seeking to invalidate state age verification laws. For the past several decades, he religiously attended twice-annual First Amendment Lawyers Conferences always presenting on one or more free speech issues of the day. And if any FALA member needed assistance on a case whether it was locating just the right passage from a seminal case or analyzing different theoretical approaches Reed would drop what he was doing and offer assistance. If you had a question about an abstention doctrine – Reed was your man. Never, never for the glory––but only for his unwavering commitment to preserving the right to free expression.

Reed is survived by his life-long companion, Claudia Halloran; his brother, Craig Lee; his sister, Robin Camerer, and many nieces and nephews. We express our most heartfelt condolences to them and his entire family on their loss.

As Reed would so often remind us: “The Struggle Continues.” And it certainly does, but it will be an all-the-more difficult one without his intelligence, wit, encyclopedic knowledge of history and the law, and his devotion to the civil rights of “We, The People.”

A memorial for Reed is being planned to be held in conjunction with the FALA Spring 2024 meeting in Chicago, IL, April 10 thru the 13th. Additional information will be forthcoming.