“FAIR”LY IMPORTANT MATTERS . . . . . . . . . . …………………………………………..
ATTORNEY’S CORNER…… By Lance Fuchs
―SOLICITATIONS‖ Many fairs are confronted with solicitations from individu-
als and groups on their fairgrounds who have failed to pur- chase a booth from the fair. The question often arises can these solicitors be stopped and/or removed from the fair- grounds as they often present a safety risk to fair patrons and the fair. It is widely known in legal circles that the First Amend-
ment does not guarantee the right to communicate one‘s views at all times and places, in any manner that one de- sires. The Court has routinely approved restrictions on speech, when they serve a significant governmental inter- est, so long as it leaves an open channel for communica- tion. With respect to free speech and solicitations on fair- grounds, the United States Supreme Court has opined on this issue in 1981 in a case entitled Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness ―ISKON‖ (452 US 640). In the case, the State Fair of Minnesota had a rule which stated in part: ―all persons, groups or firms which desire to sell, exhibit or distribute materials during the an- nual state Fair, must do so only from fixed locations on the fairgrounds.‖ The Court viewed the fair‘s rule as constitu- tional (confining solicitors to booths) given the fact that the fair needed to maintain the orderly movement of large crowds and exhibitors on its fairgrounds (which the Court defined broadly to include parking lots). The Court stated: ‖ISKCON desires to proselytize at the
fair because it believes it can successfully communicate and raise funds. In its view this can be done by intercept- ing fair patrons as they move about, and if success is achieved, stopping them momentarily, or for longer periods, as money is given or exchanged for literature. This conse- quence would be multiplied many times over if the rule could not be applied to confine such transactions by ISK- CON and others to fixed locations……ere would be a much larger threat to the State‘s interest in crowd control if all other religious, nonreligious and noncommercial organiza- tions could likewise move freely about the fairgrounds dis- tributing and selling literature and soliciting funds at will.‖
This year‘s Country Critter Contest winners were on display at the convention.
A special thanks to Vina Jean Banks with the Florida State Fair for her help with this program
We have a new mem- ber in our Fair Fam- ily from the Greater Jacksonville Agricul-
tural Fair—Alyssa
Olson born to Bill and Jacque Olson.
We suggest that fairs review their existing rules and
regulations governing solicitations to ensure that they are consistent with the Court‘s ruling.
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