Judges: WINSTON BRYANT, Attorney General
Filed Date: 10/2/1991
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
The Honorable Vic Snyder State Senator 324 South Valmar Little Rock, Arkansas 72205
Dear Senator Snyder:
This is in response to your request for an opinion on whether the following areas are considered "public forums" in the context of First Amendment protected speech, specifically, the circulation of initiative and referendum petitions:
The grounds of the State Capitol;
Within the public areas of the State Capitol Building;
On the grounds of the Arkansas State Fair and Livestock Association during any activities for which it is open to the public;
County fairgrounds;
The public areas surrounding and within buildings owned, leased, or occupied by state, county, municipal, or quasi-governmental agencies;
The public areas of shopping malls;
Public parks during public activities (e.g., Riverfest, concerts, sporting events);
War Memorial Stadium or other facilities used for sporting events;
Educational facilities or campuses?
Prior to addressing your specific questions, it is necessary to note some preliminary matters. This office has previously issued Opinion No.
The guide to determining whether a particular place is a public forum is set out in Perry Education Assn. v. Perry Local Educators' Assn.,
Government-owned property has been divided into three categories for purposes of forum analysis: (1) traditional public forums, which `by long tradition or by government fiat have been devoted to assembly and debate.' [Perry, supra] including such areas as public streets, parks and sidewalks; (2) public forums by government designation that are state-created and opened for limited public use, for example, university meeting facilities and municipal theaters; and (3) nonpublic forums which, by tradition or design, are not appropriate platforms for unrestrained communication Ä military installations and federal workplaces, for instance, fall into this category. [Emphasis original.]
Paulsen v. County of Nassau,
In the first category, traditional public forums, the government may only regulate with content-neutral time, place and manner restrictions which are narrowly tailored to serve a significant governmental interest, and which leave open alternate channels of communication. United States v. Grace,
It has been held that the "primary factor in determining whether property owned or controlled by the government is a public forum is how the locale is used." International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. v. New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority,
With respect to the grounds of the State Capitol, the issue of whether these grounds are a public forum will depend upon their use. You may call upon your knowledge of how certain areas of these grounds have been historically used to aid in your determination of whether these grounds are either traditional or government designated public forums, or whether, in fact, they are nonpublic forums. It is my opinion, although the issue is a factual one, that certain areas of the Capitol grounds would be found by a court to be either traditional or government designated public forums.
The result is less clear with respect to areas inside the State Capitol Building. It is my opinion that areas inside the building will be less likely to be public forums, although there may be areas which have been designated as such by the state. This is a question which will involve an analysis of the state's intent. As stated in Hubbard Broadcasting v. Metropolitan Sports,
[a] public forum is not created when the government permits limited discourse, `but only by intentionally opening a non-traditional forum for public discourse.' [Citation omitted.] In making this determination, the court may appropriately consider the nature of the property, its compatibility with the expressive activity that is being restricted, and the government's policy and practice to ascertain whether it intended to designate a public forum.
If, when the factors above are weighed, it appears that the state's intent was to designate a particular area of the State Capitol Building as a public forum, the collecting of signatures in such areas can only be proscribed by reasonable time, place and manner restrictions, and in very limited instances, by content-based restrictions.
You have also inquired as to the "public forum" status of the Arkansas State Fair and county fairgrounds. It was noted in Opinion No.
You next inquire as to whether "public areas surrounding and within buildings owned, leased, or occupied by the state, county, municipal or quasi-governmental agencies" are public forums. Again, this question will depend upon the facts surrounding each such area. The question in each instance will be whether such areas have been designated as public forums by the government. It is my opinion, however, that these places are not public forums merely because they may be public property. It has been stated that:
Not all public places are public forums. The Supreme Court has emphasized repeatedly that a place owned or controlled by the government does not become a public forum simply because members of the public are freely permitted to visit it. As the Court stated in Greer v. Spock,
424 U.S. 828 . . . (1976): `Such a principal of constitutional law has never existed, and does not exist now. The guarantees of the First Amendment have never meant `that people who want to propagandize protests or views have a constitutional right to do so whenever and however and wherever they please. [Citation omitted.] The State, no less than a private owner of property, has power to preserve the property under its control for the use to which it is lawfully dedicated.'
International Society for Krishna Consciousness v. New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, supra, at 159, citing Greer v. Spock, supra, and Adderly [Adderley] v. Florida,
The question, again, is one of intent of the government to designate public forums. It is my opinion, generally, that state and city workplaces are not traditional public forums. See Cornelius, supra.
Your next inquiry focuses on the "public areas of shopping malls." The issue of collecting initiative or referendum signatures at privately owned shopping malls is discussed at length in Opinion No.
The next part of your question refers to "public parks during public activities (e.g. Riverfest, concerts, sporting events"). Opinion No.
You next inquire about the "public forum" status of War Memorial Stadium and other facilities used for sporting events. Again the issue is one involving the determination of fact, specifically the intent of the state. I can refer you, however, to two federal cases holding that sports complexes, or at least parts of sports complexes, are not public forums. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in Hubbard Broadcasting, supra, stated that it doubted whether the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota was, as a whole, a public forum, stating:
From the outset, the Commission intended the Metrodome to be a sports complex. The Metrodome is not a place of public assembly intended for the communication of ideas or for the exchange of different points of view. Rather, it is a commercial venture by the city constructed to meet the need for a major sports facility in the Twin Cities area and, at the same time, to provide economic benefits to the area. It follows that the Metrodome does not come within the scope of a traditional public forum.
The court went on to define the issue more narrowly, as the speech in issue was advertising on the scoreboard system, and the question presented was whether this advertising space was a public forum, as opposed to the entire stadium. The court held it was not. The court cited with approval, however, a Third Circuit decision, International Society for Krishna Consciousness v. New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, supra, which held that the state-owned "Meadowlands Sports Complex" in New Jersey was not a public forum. See also Calash v. City of Bridgeport,
Your final inquiry concerns "[e]ducational facilities or campuses." This is a question which is addressed at length in Opinion No.
As regards private educational facilities, the issue is unclear. See Opinion No.
The foregoing opinion, which I hereby approve, was prepared by Assistant Attorney General Elana L. Cunningham.
Sincerely,
WINSTON BRYANT Attorney General
WB:cyh
mitch-paulsen-andrew-nesselroth-mike-plunkett-and-john-derienzo-v , 925 F.2d 65 ( 1991 )
john-calash-dba-paradise-productions-v-city-of-bridgeport-parks , 788 F.2d 80 ( 1986 )
Rollen F. Stewart v. District of Columbia Armory Board , 863 F.2d 1013 ( 1988 )
kathleen-s-mccreary-david-drabkin-ann-f-cawley-angelina-j-messenger , 739 F.2d 716 ( 1984 )
hubbard-broadcasting-inc-a-minnesota-corporation-v-metropolitan-sports , 797 F.2d 552 ( 1986 )
international-society-for-krishna-consciousness-inc-and-angus-murphy-on , 691 F.2d 155 ( 1982 )
Haguer v. Committee for Industrial Organization , 59 S. Ct. 954 ( 1939 )
PruneYard Shopping Center v. Robins , 100 S. Ct. 2035 ( 1980 )
Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness, ... , 101 S. Ct. 2559 ( 1981 )
United States Postal Service v. Council of Greenburgh Civic ... , 101 S. Ct. 2676 ( 1981 )
Greer v. Spock , 96 S. Ct. 1211 ( 1976 )
Adderley v. Florida , 87 S. Ct. 242 ( 1966 )
United States v. Grace , 103 S. Ct. 1702 ( 1983 )
Grutzmacher v. Public Bldg. Com'n of Chicago , 700 F. Supp. 1497 ( 1988 )
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District , 89 S. Ct. 733 ( 1969 )
Board of Trustees of Scarsdale v. McCreary , 105 S. Ct. 1859 ( 1985 )
Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. , 105 S. Ct. 3439 ( 1985 )
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier , 108 S. Ct. 562 ( 1988 )
Frisby v. Schultz , 108 S. Ct. 2495 ( 1988 )
Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n , 103 S. Ct. 948 ( 1983 )