Money & Politics | Daily Report

Courtesy of ACLUPlaintiffs John Oertel and Dan Yost, members of the ACLU of Northern California, at the Redding Public Library.

An unlikely alliance won a free speech victory in Shasta County Superior Court yesterday.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and the North State Tea Party Alliance both filed lawsuits challenging the Redding Public Library’s decision to regulate who can distribute information outside the library.

Judge Monica Marlow issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the library from enforcing the new policy until she has had a chance to review it further.

The rules would require anyone seeking to distribute information to obtain a permit from the library. It also bans multiple organizations from distributing at the same time, and bans materials requesting charitable donations, restricts distribution to certain areas and prohibits materials from being distributed in the parking lot. It also contains what the ACLU says is “vague and over broad” restrictions on offensive language, gestures and displays.

There have not been problems with demonstrators at the library, said Linda Lye, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California.

“The policy is really a solution in search of a problem,” she said.

Janet Filomeo, a member of the Board of Directors at Friends of Shasta County Libraries, said that it was necessary to limit leafleting because it interferes with library operations.

“They certainly have a right to have a forum there, and I think the library has gone out of its way to give them an area to set up their tables,” Filomeo said. “I just don’t understand why they can’t be satisfied with that.”

Parents visiting the library could be distracted by solicitors, which could prevent them from watching their children, Filomeo said.

“I don’t like the fact that people are getting into my face and putting leaflets on my car,” Filomeo said.

Tim Pappas, the attorney for the Tea Party Alliance, said his group found the policy problematic because it went farther than reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on speech, and was not constitutional. In this case, he said, the Tea Party Alliance and the ACLU found common ground.

“It doesn’t matter what our political philosophies are,” Pappas said. “The important thing is that on this issue, we do agree, and we work well when we collaborate.”

The city of Redding will be liable for the plaintiff’s attorney’s fees if it loses in court, Lye said. She said the judge has encouraged the two sides to begin a settlement conference so that an early resolution can be reached that may limit the city’s liability.