On February 13, the 6th circuit issued an opinion in Bays v City of Fairborn, Ohio, 10-4059. The issue was whether the city could turn over one of its public parks to two private organizations for one day, for a Sweet Corn Festival, and then let the festival organizers ban an individual from passing out leaflets, wearing a sign, and attempting to engage in conversation. The city said the First Amendment doesn’t apply because the sponsors of the Sweet Corn Festival (the Fairborn Lions Club and the Fairborn Arts Association) are private entities. But the decision says that the city was enforcing the ban with its own police, and so state action is involved.
The city also argued that the plaintiffs (who wanted to talk about religion) were free to rent a booth, but that argument did not persuade the court. Here is the 14-page opinion.
What if the so-called public park is turned over to private control for a mere 364 of 365 days ???
I’ve run into this in Colorado where they desperately try to control EVERYTHING done like this. They have a law which prevents Carnies from “barking.” They tried to use this to say petitioners could not call out to people! Folks need to be informed of what “PUBLIC USE” means.