Supreme Court Rejects Free Speech Challenge to Immigration Law

The Supreme Court avoided a difficult First Amendment question on Friday, ruling that an unusual 1986 federal law that makes it a crime to “encourage” or “induce” unauthorized immigrants to come to or stay in the United States should be read narrowly to require complicity in a criminal conduct.

A broader interpretation of the law would give rise to constitutional concerns, Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority in the 7-to-2 decision. She added that the law’s key words were terms of art used in a “specialized, criminal-law sense” and mean something different...