Joshua Gray v. Maine Department of Public Safety

Petitioner Joshua Gray made comments on his Facebook page in which he criticized the conduct of employees of the Respondent Maine Department of Public Safety in a fatal shooting. When Gray later applied to that same department for a professional investigator’s license, it denied his application, alleging that some of his Facebook comments criticizing its employees were inaccurate and that he thus lacked the “good moral character” required for licensure. The question presented is: Whether an occupational licensing board, consistent with the First Amendment, may deny an occupational license because of the content of an applicant’s speech without satisfying strict scrutiny?