recognizing "unmistakable symbolic significance” of demonstrating in proximity to the seat of government
How later courts described this case
- recognizing "unmistakable symbolic significance” of demonstrating in proximity to the seat of government
- "It would be permissible, for example, ... to regulate the size or aesthetic character of displays built on park land."
- "Parks are much more like state capitol grounds .... [they] have long been regarded as `a particular kind of community area that, under the Anglo-American tradition, are available, at least to some extent and on a reasonable basis, for groups of citizens con- cerned with the expression of ideas.'"
- ‘Without such protection, there is too great a danger that front line officials will use their discretion to regulate views rather than to regulate the mode in which those views are expressed.”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
ROBB, Circuit Judge:
I concur in the result reached by Judge Leventhal that Women Strike for Peace may not place their imitation tombstones in the central circular area of the Ellipse but may put them at some nearby location.
I find nothing in the Constitution that gives Women Strike for Peace the right to intrude upon the Christmas Pageant with their display of propaganda. See Adderley v. Florida, 385 U.S. 39, 47-48 , 87 S.Ct. 242 , 17 L.Ed.2d 149 (1966). Certainly the Park Service should not be required to make the central circular area, occupied by. the Christmas Pageant, a midway open to any ideological pitchman seeking a ready-made audience. On the other hand, since the Park Service permits the erection of structures on park land for the Christmas Pageant, I cannot say that Women Strike for Peace can be prohibited from placing an exhibit in a nearby area where it will not interfere with the Christmas Pageant. If structures on park land are allowed then permission must be granted with an even hand.