CAPTIVE-AUDIENCE DOCTRINE

captive-audience doctrine. 1.Constitutional law. The principle that when the listener cannot, as a practical matter, escape from intrusive speech, the speech can be restricted. [Cases: Constitutional Law  90. C.J.S. Constitutional Law §§ 539, 542.] 2.Labor law. The rule that prohibits either party to a union election from making a speech on company time to a mass assembly of employees within 24 hours of an election. — Also termed captive-audience rule. [Blacks Law 8th]