International Society for Krishna Consciousness of California, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles

764 F.3d 1044, 2014 WL 4086794, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 16059
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit·Decided August 20, 2014·No. 12-56621·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

OPINION

NOONAN, Circuit Judge:

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness of California, Inc., along *1046 with Emil Beca, the group’s president (collectively, “ISKCON”), appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the City of Los Angeles (“City”), Los Angeles International Airport (“LAX”) manager Stephen Yee, and LAX police chief Bernard J. Wilson (collectively, “Appellees”).

After nearly two decades of litigation, the only remaining legal issue in this case is whether section 23.27(c) of the Los An-geles Administrative Code 1 — which bans continuous or repetitive solicitation for the immediate receipt of funds at LAX, a nonpublic forum — is a reasonable restriction on protected speech under the First Amendment.

Because ISKCON has failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to whether section 23.27(c) is a reasonable restriction on speech in light of LAX’s lawful purpose, we affirm.

I

A

LAX occupies some 3,500 acres of land southwest of downtown Los Angeles. Each year, more than 60 million travelers pass through its doors, making it one of the world’s busiest airports.

Including Tom Bradley International Terminal (“TBIT”), LAX has nine separate terminals arranged along the outside edge of a horseshoe-shaped configuration of multilevel roadways. The upper roadway services the departure areas, while the lower roadway services arrivals. At each terminal, the roadways are flanked continuously with sidewalks ranging in length from 440 to 876 feet and in width from 12 to 30 feet. A substantial majority of travelers must cross the sidewalks to enter or exit the terminals, as must any greeters or well-wishers. The parking structures lie in the horseshoe’s interior.

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (“9/11”), LAX adopted significant changes to its security protocols. As part of these changes, the maximum terminal space available to the general public decreased from 4,000,000 to 211,000 square feet — a reduction of about ninety-five percent. A significant portion of that previously available space has since been occupied by the Transportation Security Administration (“TSA”) and its passenger screening infrastructure. Concession and retail establishments are now mostly located in sterile areas of LAX’s terminal buildings and are not open to the general public.

Enacted four years prior to 9/11, section 23.27(c) of the Los Angeles Administrative Code provides, in relevant part:

(c)(1) No person shall solicit and receive funds inside the airport terminals at the Airport.
(2) No person shall solicit and receive funds in the parking areas at the Airport.
(3) No person shall solicit and receive funds on the sidewalks adjacent to the airport terminals or the sidewalks adjacent to the parking areas at the Airport.
(4) Subdivisions (c)(1), (c)(2), and (c)(3) apply only if the solicitation and receipt of funds is conducted by a person to or with passers-by in a continuous or repetitive manner. Nothing herein is intended to prohibit the distribution of flyers, brochures, pamphlets, books, or any other printed or written matter as long as such distribution is not made with the *1047 intent of immediately receiving funds, as defined in subdivision (c)(5), at the locations referred to in (c)(1), (c)(2), or (c)(3).
(5) “Solicit and receive funds” means any written or oral request for
(A) the donation of money, alms, property or anything else of value, or,
(B) the pledge of a future donation of money, alms, property, or anything else of value, or,
(C) the sale or offering for sale of any property upon the representation, express or implied, that the proceeds of such sale will be used for a charitable or religious purpose.

L.A., Cal., Admin. Code § 23.27(c) (1997).

As section 23.27(c)’s text makes clear, persons are expressly banned from soliciting and receiving funds in three areas of LAX: airport terminals, parking lots, and the sidewalks adjacent to both. This ban, however, applies only to solicitation for the immediate receipt of funds 2 and only when done “in a continuous or repetitive manner.” Id. § 23.27(c)(4). Though the ordinance allows the “distribution” of literature, including “flyers, brochures, pamphlets, [and] books,” id., it bars the “sale” of such literature for the immediate exchange of funds, id. § 23.27(c)(5).

B

Brought to the United States from India in 1965, the Krishna consciousness religion requires adherents to engage in an evangelical practice known as sankirtan. Specifically, members of ISKCON must “approach people in public places in order to proselytize, solicit donations, sell and distribute religious literature, and disseminate information about Krishna consciousness programs and activities.” This practice has four primary purposes: (1) to spread religious truth; (2) to proselytize and attract new members; (3) to distribute Krishna consciousness literature to as many people as possible; and (4) to generate funds to pay for the costs of the distributed literature and for other religious activities. According to ISKCON, soliciting and receiving funds, whether by sale or donation, is “essential” to the group’s financial sustainability.

ISKCON seeks to practice sankirtan at LAX, a location it considers “particularly vital.” Hoping to expose “people from all over the world” to the teachings of Krishna consciousness, ISKCON wants to practice sankirtan in three areas at LAX: (1) the exterior sidewalks adjacent to airport terminals; (2) the arrivals level lobbies; and (3) the non-sterile mezzanine level food court and duty free shopping areas at TBIT. Section 23.27(c) prohibits ISKCON from doing so.

On May 13, 1997 — two days before section 23.27(c) entered into force — ISKCON filed a complaint in federal court for in-junctive and declaratory relief, arguing that the ordinance violated, inter alia, the Liberty of Speech Clause of the California Constitution and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. On May 27, 1998, the district court granted summary judgment in ISKCON’s favor on state law grounds and permanently enjoined section 23.27(c)’s enforcement. The City appealed.

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International Society for Krishna Consciousness of California, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, 764 F.3d 1044, 2014 WL 4086794, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 16059 (9th Cir. 2014).

764 F.3d 1044 (International Society for Krishna Consciousness of California, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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