Federal
Court Says Christians Can Share Their Faith at Texas State Fair
Contact: Brian
Fahling
American Family Association
P.O. Drawer 2440
Tupelo, MS 38803
1-662-680-3886
For Immediate Release: 10/12/2006
Tupelo, MS - A federal district court in Dallas, after
an
emergency hearing, ruled yesterday that religious speech is protected
inside the fair grounds at the Texas State Fair in Dallas.
The
lawsuit was brought on behalf of Darrel Rundus who, the past two years,
had been threatened with arrest and ordered to leave the Texas State
Fair for presenting the Christian message inside the fair grounds and
on the public sidewalks adjacent to it.
Before filing for
emergency relief on behalf of Mr. Rundus, CLP attorneys Brian Fahling
and Bruce Green attempted to secure an agreement from the City of
Dallas that its officers would not interfere with Mr. Rundus as he
exercised his first amendment right to share his faith with fairgoers
outside and inside the Texas State Fair this year.
The City
responded that it’s lease with State Fair of Texas, Inc., which puts on
the Texas State Fair each year, made the Texas State Fair a private
event on private property and Mr. Rundus and others had no
constitutional rights inside the fair grounds. Before the court's
ruling yesterday, though, the City conceded that the sidewalks outside
the fair grounds are public and that Mr. Rundus and others were free to
exercise their constitutional rights there.
In its ruling
yesterday the federal court determined that the Texas State Fair is a
public place where constitutional rights are protected; as a result of
the ruling, Mr. Rundus and others are now free to share their faith
inside the fair grounds. The judge upheld the fair’s prohibition on
leafleting, however.
Fahling and Green said they would appeal
the court's ruling upholding the restriction on leafleting. An
individual or group can only leaflet inside the fairgrounds at the
Texas State Fair if they pay a fee ranging from $2,000 to $19,000. The
attorneys said “the fee requirement is an unconstitutional license tax
on the exercise of First Amendment rights.
The Center for Law
& Policy is a public interest law firm with a national practice. It
specializes in First Amendment litigation in federal court.