Irish Subcommittee v. Rhode Island Heritage Com'n
| Decision Date | 30 September 1986 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 85-0751 P. |
| Citation | 646 F. Supp. 347 |
| Parties | The IRISH SUBCOMMITTEE OF the RHODE ISLAND HERITAGE COMMISSION and Robert Whitaker, its Chairman; Irish Northern Aid and Frank McCabe, its President v. The RHODE ISLAND HERITAGE COMMISSION; Raymond E. Gallison, Jr.; Robert B. Lynch; Hon. Robert K. Pirraglia; M. Rachel Cunha; John Lauth; Mary Brennan and Albert Klyberg. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island |
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Stephen J. Fortunato, Jr., Providence, R.I., for plaintiffs.
Thomas Caruolo, Providence, R.I., for defendants.
The plaintiffs brought this action in December 1985 seeking a declaratory judgment invalidating all rules, regulations and guidelines of the Rhode Island Heritage Commission that prohibit the display or distribution of any political paraphernalia, including political buttons, hats, pins and pamphlets at the Rhode Island Heritage Day festivities. The plaintiffs also seek a permanent injunction barring the defendants, their agents, employees, officers and attorneys from restricting the plaintiff Irish Northern Aid's participation in the Heritage Day activities. The plaintiffs base this cause of action on 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201 and 2202 (1982).
The plaintiffs allege that the Rhode Island Heritage Commission has deprived them of their rights of free speech guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States; and that the Rhode Island Heritage Commission has denied them equal protection of the law as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, in that the defendants have applied the regulation unequally. The plaintiffs claim a cause of action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1982) to redress these alleged deprivations of their civil rights, and seek recovery of their attorneys' fees as authorized by 42 U.S.C. § 1988 (1982). The plaintiffs ask the Court to take pendent jurisdiction of claims brought under the Rhode Island Constitution; they invoke the jurisdiction granted this Court in 28 U.S.C. § 1343 (1982).
The facts in this case are relatively simple and undisputed. The Rhode Island Heritage Commission ("the Commission") is a state commission within the executive branch of the Rhode Island state government. Former Rhode Island Governor J. Joseph Garrahy established the Commission with executive order No. 10, July 1, 1977, and the Commission's existence was codified by statute in 1981. R.I.Gen.Laws § 42-79-1 (1984). The purposes of the Commission include:
Since its creation in 1977, the Heritage Commission has fulfilled this mandate in association with diverse community organizations.1 The bulk of the Commission's activities is executed through the work of the twenty-three ethnic subcommittees who organize activities relating to their particular ethnic heritage. Generally, the subcommittees petition the Commission's Executive Board for "endorsement"—committee cosponsorship and funding—of social, political, religious and cultural events arranged by outside organizations.2 A project is "endorsed" and may receive Commission cosponsorship and funding if it receives an approval vote of a majority of the twenty-five commissioners.
The Irish subcommittee of the Rhode Island Heritage Commission derives its existence from the bylaws of the Rhode Island Heritage Commission. The Irish subcommittee is endowed with responsibility for the organization and sponsorship of activities and events commemorating the heritage of Rhode Islanders of Irish descent. In coordinating these events and activities, the Irish subcommittee is authorized to enlist the aid and cooperation of groups and individuals outside the Heritage Commission who are involved in activities relating to the Irish cultural heritage. The plaintiff Irish Northern Aid (NORAID) is a private organization based in Rhode Island and primarily composed of Rhode Islanders. NORAID's principal purpose is to provide relief to the families of individuals affected by the Northern Irish government actions related to the current political strife in that country.
Each year since 1977, the Rhode Island Heritage Commission has sponsored a Rhode Island Heritage Day, an ethnic festival hosted by the twenty-three subcommittees. This event is held for one day each fall on the State House lawn. Each subcommittee is assigned an area of the lawn upon which it may set up booths and tables for the display and sale of ethnic food and artifacts. The booths and tables are arrayed along the lawn's walkways. The walkways lead to the State House steps which are used as a stage area for presentations of ethnic song and dance. The displays in the booth are typically the work of outside organizations who participate in the festival at the invitation of the subcommittees. The Commission has traditionally allotted seven booths for Irish subcommittee's use on Heritage Day.
In 1982 and 1983, NORAID occupied a booth on Heritage Day as an official invitee of the Irish subcommittee. Their activities consisted of, among other things, the dissemination of literature regarding the political situation in Northern Ireland and fund-raising for their relief efforts. NORAID's participation was not sanctioned by the Heritage Commission, but the 1982 and 1983 Heritage Days passed without incident. In 1984, neither NORAID nor the Irish subcommittee participated in the festivities because of a scheduling conflict.
Since 1977, the Heritage Commission has forbidden groups connected with the ethnic subcommittee booths from displaying or distributing political paraphernalia on Heritage Day. This prohibition is based on a Heritage Day rule (in effect since 1977) which states: "No political paraphernalia— buttons, hats, pins, pamphlets, etc. will be allowed to be displayed or distributed." It is also in the by-laws of the Commission that:
The Committee has enforced its ban on the distribution of political paraphernalia because it believes that political discourse and the dissemination of political paraphernalia will interfere with one objective of Heritage Day: to promote brotherhood among the various ethnic groups in Rhode Island.
In 1985 the Irish subcommittee intended that NORAID participate in the subcommittee's booths; NORAID intended to distribute its literature from the booth. In an effort to enforce its rule regarding political activity at Heritage Day, the named defendants in their official capacities as the Commission's Executive Committee, advised the Irish subcommittee through the Commission's Executive Director that NORAID would not be permitted official participation in Heritage Day 1985. The Executive Committee expressed its belief that NORAID's activities were political and therefore ran afoul of the Commission's rules. The Irish subcommittee declined participation in the festivities of 1985 and instead organized an "informational picket" at the festival. The demonstration lasted approximately twenty minutes before disbanding.
The rule banning all political paraphernalia remains in effect for the 1986 Heritage Day. The plaintiffs seek declaratory judgment invalidating the rule as violative of the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. The plaintiffs claim that the rule violates their constitutionally guaranteed right to speak and that its discriminatory enforcement has violated their right to equal protection of the law. Consequently, the plaintiffs seek the issuance of an injunction barring the defendants from restricting the plaintiffs' participation in Heritage Day 1986. In rebuttal, the defendants argue that the rule is a reasonable time, place and manner restriction on speech in a public forum. Both parties have moved for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
To succeed on a motion for summary judgment under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the moving party must establish the absence of any genuine issues of material fact. To determine the existence of any questions of material fact, the Court must view the record in a light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. John Sanderson & Co. v. Ludlow Jute Co., 569 F.2d 696, 698 (1st Cir.1978). If the Court finds that no material facts are disputed, the Court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion to determine if the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fristoe v. Reynolds Metals, 615 F.2d 1209, 1213 (9th Cir.1980). Taking the above-recited facts as undisputed, I find the plaintiffs entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States commands that "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech...." Its prohibition applies to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. See, e.g., Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v....
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