Anaheim : City to Allow Krishnas to Solicit Pending Study

Until lawyers and officials analyze the effects of a federal appeals court decision on charitable solicitations, the City of Anaheim says it will allow Hare Krishna members to seek donations in the parking lot of Anaheim Stadium.

The city decided Thursday afternoon to “carry out what appears to be the content of the opinion--to allow expression in exterior areas of the stadium unless their conduct goes beyond protected speech,” Deputy City Atty. Charles Redd said.

The city’s action came just hours before the preseason football game between the Los Angeles Rams and the St. Louis Cardinals. Krishna leaders had said previously they were busy with other matters and could not react quickly enough to get members to the stadium by Thursday night.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled Tuesday that an ordinance regulating charitable solicitations was unconstitutional and that the stadium parking lot was an appropriate public place for members of religious organizations to solicit funds.

The Krishnas had been barred from soliciting funds at the stadium since 1982, but the appellate justices overturned the lower court order on that issue.

Redd said the opinion allows the city to set reasonable restrictions on the time, place and manner of charitable solicitations at the stadium.

“We have to act reasonably and we assume they (Krishnas) will act reasonably,” he said. “We would not, for example, expect them to do the things we alleged in the lawsuit, such as stopping motorists in their cars and not allowing them to exit unless they made a contribution.”