Hare Krishna Sect to Fight Ban on Solicitation at LAX

Less than an hour after the City Council voted Tuesday to ban solicitation at Los Angeles International Airport, a lawyer representing the Hare Krishna religious group said his clients will fight the measure in court.

Barry A. Fisher, the attorney who 23 years ago persuaded the California Supreme Court to force the city to open the airport to the Hare Krishna sect, said he is prepared to file an injunction against the ordinance.

Fisher, who has appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of groups that raise funds at airports, said he will argue that an organization’s right to free speech is compromised if its ability to raise funds is curtailed, as the new city ordinance proposes.

The council approved the ban on second reading Tuesday after a debate in which Councilman Mike Feuer called it “draconian” and unconstitutional. The measure, which would make it illegal to ask for money in the terminals or on the sidewalks at LAX, was sponsored by Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who said charitable groups should not “panhandle” in order to raise funds.

Solicitation at the airport, Galanter said, interrupts the progress of travelers and “teaches people that the best way to raise money is to beg.”

“This is a quality of life issue,” said Councilman Marvin Braude, who supported the ban. “It will improve the image of Los Angeles.”

The council approved the ordinance by a vote of 8 to 4, rejecting a motion by Feuer to send the measure back to committee for more work.

Shortly afterward, Fisher charged that the new law violated the U.S. and California constitutions.

The city is modeling its ordinance on a New York measure upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1992. In that case, the court ruled that the terminals inside the airport were not public thoroughfares akin to streets, so the city could restrict activity there.

But the court did not extend its ruling to the sidewalks around the airport. Los Angeles may be vulnerable to a court fight because the city’s new ban does extend to sidewalks, Fisher said.

“Under federal law, this ordinance is valid,” said John Werlich, the assistant city attorney who worked with the Board of Airport Commissioners to develop the ban. The high court, he said, recently allowed the U.S. Postal Service to restrict activity on the sidewalks outside its buildings.

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During the council’s debate on the airport ban, Councilman Richard Alarcon urged the council to restrict solicitation in ways that have been upheld by the high court. For example, he said, the city could require that organizations register with the city before asking for funds at the airport, and that they conduct business in special areas.

“This is lazy legislation,” Alarcon said, predicting a court fight if the measure were not fine-tuned.

“We know how this works,” he said. “We know it’s going to end up in the Supreme Court.”