Robocall Ban Upheld, Broadened by Supreme Court in Speech Case

The U.S. Supreme Court broadened the federal ban on robocalls to mobile phones, eliminating an exception that had existed for government-debt collection while leaving the rest of the law intact.

In a splintered ruling, the court said the 2015 exception, which allowed robocalls if made to recoup debt owed to or guaranteed by the federal government, violated the Constitution’s free speech guarantee. Writing the court’s controlling opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said that exception “favors speech made for collecting government debt over political and other speech.”

But Kavanaugh also said the court could strip out the exception without tossing the ban ...