Attorneys Fight to Restore Free Speech In National Parks
Attorney are asking for review of federal regulations that require individuals to apply for a permit before exercising their First Amendment rights in designated areas of national parks.
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) filed a notice of appeal Monday with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Boardley v. Department of Interior. ADF filed the lawsuit on behalf of a Minnesota resident prohibited from passing out religious literature near the visitor’s center at Mt. Rushmore National Park.
“The First Amendment is our permit to engage in free speech on public property,” said ADF Attorney Heather Gebelin Hacker. “It’s unbelievable that the National Park Service would deny freedom of speech at our national parks, especially at the foot of Mt. Rushmore, where four men who represent America’s freedoms are immortalized.”
The issue stems from an episode on Aug. 9, 2007, when Michael Boardley and other individuals passed out gospel tracts near the front entrance of Mt. Rushmore. The next day, a park ranger approached them and informed them that they had to have a speech permit in order to distribute the tracts; and it would take two days to obtain one. After Boardley returned home, he made multiple requests for a permit, but never received one. The Park Service did not grant Boardley a permit until after ADF attorneys filed the lawsuit on Nov. 2, 2007.
On March 17, 2009, the district court found that one of the regulations challenged in the lawsuit facially violated the First and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The focus of the appeal is the regulations’ requirement that individuals must obtain a permit in advance before they may engage in speech in designated areas of national parks.
“It is our hope that this appeal will restore free speech and religious freedom not just for Mr. Boardley, but for others visiting national parks and monuments as well,” adds Hacker.
Opinion issued in Boardley v. Department of Interior Civil Action No. 07-1986 (JR) by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Notice of appeal in Boardley v. Department of Interior Civil Action No. 07-1986 (JR)
Related posts:
- Free Speech Forbidden at Georgia Southern University
- Woman Arrested for Sharing Faith in Public Takes Stand
- Judge Rejects Gay-Pride Group’s Attempt To Ban Free Speech At Public Park
- Lousiana Federal Court Says Town Violated Christian’s Free Speech Rights
- Liberty Counsel Petitions U.S. Supreme Court to Hear School Graduation Free Speech Case
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