6th Circuit: Ohio city can’t stifle religious speech in public park

Bays v. City of Fairborn, No. 10-4059

Before: SILER and KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judges; ADAMS, District Judge.

SILER, Circuit Judge. Plaintiffs Tracy Bays and Kerrigan Skelly brought this action against the City of Fairborn and various Fairborn officials (collectively “Fairborn”), claiming that the solicitation policy in effect at the Fairborn Sweet Corn Festival (“Festival”) violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment. The plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction was denied by the district court, which found that the plaintiffs were not likely to succeed on the merits because the solicitation
policy and its enforcement were not state action, and the policy, even if it was attributable to Fairborn, was a reasonable time, place, and manner restriction on speech. For the reasons stated below, we REVERSE the district court’s order and REMAND to the district court with instructions to grant the preliminary injunction.

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The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defense Fund Litigation Staff Counsel Jonathan Scruggs regarding today’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Bays v. City of Fairborn:

“No one should be threatened with arrest for exercising his constitutionally protected free speech rights. The court was right to recognize that the city used an unconstitutional policy to stifle religious speech in a public park. We are pleased that the policy is now on hold and that the court has determined that we are likely to succeed in this case.”

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