Heffron v. International Society For Krishna Consciousness, Inc.

452 U.S. 640 (1981)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P, a public corporation organized under the laws of Minnesota, operates a State Fair on a 125-acre state-owned tract located in St. Paul, Minn. The Fair is a major public event and attracts visitors from all over Minnesota as well as from other parts of the country. The average total attendance for the 12-day Fair has been 1,320,000 persons. The average daily attendance on weekdays has been 115,000 persons and on Saturdays and Sundays 160,000. P promulgated Minnesota State Fair Rule 6.05 which provides that '[sale] or distribution of any merchandise, including printed or written material except under license issued [by] the Society and/or from a duly-licensed location shall be a misdemeanor.' Those who desire to sell, exhibit or distribute materials during the annual State Fair must do so only from fixed locations on the fairgrounds. Space in the fairgrounds is rented to all comers in a nondiscriminatory fashion on a first-come, first-served basis with the rental charge based on the size and location of the booth. The Rule applies alike to everyone. P, an international religious society filed suit seeking a declaration that Rule 6.05, both on its face and as applied, violated Ps' rights under the First Amendment, and seeking injunctive relief prohibiting enforcement of the Rule. P claims that the Rule would suppress the practice of Sankirtan, one of its religious rituals, which enjoins its members to go into public places to distribute or sell religious literature and to solicit donations for the support of the Krishna religion. The trial court granted Ds' motion for summary judgment, upholding the constitutionality of Rule 6.05. It held that D's interest 'in providing all fair goers and concessionaires with adequate and equal access to each other and in providing a minimum of congestion on the fairgrounds' was sufficient to sustain Rule 6.05's limitations as applied to P. The Minnesota Supreme Court reversed, the rule unconstitutionally restricted the religious practice of Sankirtan. D appealed.