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Asked & Answered

A&A: Collecting petitions in public spaces

firstamendment June 14, 2009

Q: I’ve read up on Robins v. Pruneyard and Young v. Albertsons regarding restrictions that may or may not apply to the collection of petition signatures. With respect, especially, to the Albertsons decision, are their any other rulings regarding whether shopping centers and/or individual stores can discriminate based on content? Two situations come to mind: 1. The Girl Scouts, Salvation Army at Christmas, local PTA, etc. are allowed to solicit customers coming and going but

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A&A: Videotaping public reservoirs

firstamendment June 14, 2009

Q: A member of a watershed working group videotaped a tour of the public utilities commission’s reservoir with the knowledge and permission of the public utility commission employee who can be seen in the video.  I am being told indirectly that they want it taken down NOW, and suspect I’m about to be ordered to do so. A: Although I cannot advise you with respect to your particular situation, I can give you some general

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A&A: Student Speech and the First Amendment

firstamendment June 14, 2009

Q: My friend is being suspended from high school for the rest of the year and is having her senior year activities taken away from her. All this came about because she got into an confrontation with at teacher and later posted a blog ranting about the teacher and what happened. The school found out about the blog and is punishing her for it. They are saying that she was threatening the teacher because in

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A&A: Know your rights when protesting in public space

firstamendment June 14, 2009

Q: We are a group of people who want our public beach to be safe for pedestrians.  When we go onto the beach, we are threatened by the Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Division of California State Parks and Recreation who uses our beach as a highway to the Oceano Dunes Recreation Area in Oceano, California.  The OHV now says we have to have a permit, after we applied for a permit weeks ago and were told

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A&A: What to do when a government agency requires a permit and insurance to protest

firstamendment June 14, 2009

Q: I am working on organizing a peaceful protest on a public beach.  The state park wants me to get a permit ($625) and insurance to have this protest. Have you ever worked with the state parks on this issue? Can I make them give me a permit based on the first amendment? A: Under the First Amendment and the equivalent provision in the California Constitution, the state is allowed to impose reasonable, content-neutral and

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