Porter Scott Defends Cal Expo Against Claim of Free Speech Violation

Burt Camenzind v. California Exposition and State Fair - 84. F.4th 1102 (9th Cir. 2023)

We represented Cal Expo in a case where Cal Expo held a privately organized Hmong New Year Festival. The organizers leased the fairgrounds for the event which was open to the public for a fee. The plaintiff purchased a ticket, entered the festival, and began handing out religious tokens to attendees. Cal Expo police officers told him he could distribute his tokens only in designated “free speech zones” outside the entry gates. He sued, alleging that Cal Expo’s policy violated the First Amendment of the US Constitution and Free Speech Clause of the California Constitution. The Ninth Circuit held that the enclosed portion of the fairgrounds is not a traditional public forum and that Cal Expo’s designation of “free speech zones” outside the entry gates was a valid regulation of speech. The case is significant because it provides a framework for public entities across the country to prevent its event spaces from becoming traditional public forums based purely on its ownership of the property.