State v. Baccala, 326 Conn. 232, 237 (2017)

Although this court recently has explained that it is appropriate to consider a state constitutional claim first “when the issue presented is one of first impression under both the state and federal constitutions”; State v. Kono, 324 Conn. 80, 82 n.3, 152 A.3d 1 (2016); the issue in the present case is not one of first impression under the federal constitution. Moreover, because the established federal standard is clearly dispositive, to resolve the case on this basis is in accord with jurisprudence under which “we eschew unnecessarily deciding constitutional questions ....” (Citations omitted.) Hogan v. Dept. of Children & Families, 290 Conn. 545, 560, 964 A.2d 1213 (2009). Finally, we note that the briefs of both parties examine federal jurisprudence on this question. We therefore leave for another day the question of whether the state constitution is more protective of speech than the federal constitution with regard to fighting words.