Ban on Krishna Activity at Stadium Overturned

A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the right of Hare Krishna members to solicit donations around Anaheim Stadium, ruling that an Anaheim city law requiring a permit for such actions is unconstitutional.

In a ruling in favor of the Laguna Beach-based International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals relied on free-speech protections in the California Constitution that are broader than similar provisions in the U.S. Constitution.

The court said Anaheim could not ban solicitation merely because stadium spectators might be annoyed. And the ruling said city officials do not have unlimited authority to decide whether to issue a permit.

“I am dismayed,” said Anaheim Mayor Don Roth. “And it’s certainly not going to please the Angels’ fans.” Roth declined to comment further until he reads the opinion and confers with city attorneys.

“It’s a blow for freedom,” ISKCON attorney Larry J. Roberts said of the decision.

In 1982, ISKCON members challenged the city of Anaheim’s denial of a permit to solicit donations in the city. Under an informal agreement, the city let the group solicit at Anaheim Convention Center under tightly restricted conditions, but it refused to allow any activity by sect members at the city-owned stadium.

U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real ruled in 1983 that the convention center was a public place and thus a place at which the Krishnas have a constitutional right to proselytize with no restrictions. He ruled that the stadium, however, was not a “public forum” because people go there for a specific purpose, in contrast to the convention center, which, he said, drew people for a variety of reasons.

But on Tuesday, U.S. Circuit Judge William Norris said that for the purposes of the California Liberty of Speech Clause, “public forums” are not restricted to traditionally public areas such as streets, sidewalks and parks.

Because the parking facilities and walkways of the stadium were constructed for the free flow of traffic, “such locations must be open to expressive activity unless the activity is basically incompatible with the intended use of the facility,” the opinion said. “We conclude that solicitation by ISKCON is not incompatible with the intended uses of either the exterior areas of the stadium or the exterior walkways of the convention center.”

Anaheim Deputy City Atty. Charles Redd said he had not read the opinion and therefore would not comment on the decision.