Opinion ID: 1374133
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Forum

Text: Although neither party questions whether Oglebay Park is a public forum, we do not find the resolution of this issue to be so simplistic as the following general overview of the three categories of government-owned property reveals. The first category of government-owned property is known as the traditional public forum and includes places which have traditionally been devoted to assembly and debate, such as parks and streets. See Perry Educ. Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n, 460 U.S. 37, 45, 103 S.Ct. 948, 954-55, 74 L.Ed.2d 794, 804 (1983). The government's right to restrict communicative activity in these places is very limited: In places which by long tradition or by government fiat have been devoted to assembly and debate, the rights of the State to limit expressive activity are sharply circumscribed. At one end of the spectrum are streets and parks which `have immemorially been held in trust for the use of the public and, time out of mind, have been used for purposes of assembly, communicating thoughts between citizens, and discussing public questions.' ... In these quintessential public forums, the government may not prohibit all communicative activity. Perry Educ. Ass'n, 460 U.S. at 45, 103 S.Ct. at 954-55, 74 L.Ed.2d at 804 ( quoting Hague v. CIO, 307 U.S. 496, 515, 59 S.Ct. 954, 964, 83 L.Ed. 1423, 1436 (1939)). See also United Mine Workers of America International Union v. Parsons, 172 W.Va. 386, 393, 305 S.E.2d 343, 350 (1983) (Places which constitute public forums include streets, parks, and sidewalks). The government's power to restrict communicative activity by statute, ordinance or regulation in a public forum depends upon whether the restriction is content-based or content-neutral. If the restriction is content-based, the government must show that its limitation on expressive activity is necessary to serve a compelling state interest and that it is narrowly drawn to achieve that end. Perry Educ. Ass'n, 460 U.S. at 45, 103 S.Ct. at 955, 74 L.Ed.2d at 804 ( citing Carey v. Brown, 447 U.S. 455, 461-62, 100 S.Ct. 2286, 2291, 65 L.Ed.2d 263, 270 (1980)). If, however, the restriction is content-neutral, then generally the government may enforce regulations restricting the time, place, and manner of expression if the regulations are narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest, and leave open ample alternative channels of communication. Perry Educ. Ass'n, 460 U.S. at 45, 103 S.Ct. at 955, 74 L.Ed.2d at 804 ( citing United States Postal Service v. Council of Greenburgh Civic Assns., 453 U.S. 114, 132, 101 S.Ct. 2676, 2686, 69 L.Ed.2d 517 (1981); Consolidated Edison Co. v. Public Service Comm'n, 447 U.S. 530, 535-36, 100 S.Ct. 2326, 2332, 65 L.Ed.2d 319 (1980); Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 115, 92 S.Ct. 2294, 2303, 33 L.Ed.2d 222, 231-32 (1972); Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296, 60 S.Ct. 900, 84 L.Ed. 1213 (1940); Schneider v. State, 308 U.S. 147, 60 S.Ct. 146, 84 L.Ed. 155 (1939)). The second category of government-owned property consists of property which the government has opened to the public for communicative activity even though it was not required to create the forum in the first instance. Perry Educ. Ass'n, 460 U.S. at 45, 103 S.Ct. at 955, 74 L.Ed.2d at 805. See also Widmar v. Vincent, 454 U.S. 263, 102 S.Ct. 269, 70 L.Ed.2d 440 (1981) (university meeting facilities); City of Madison Joint School District No. 8 v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Comm'n, 429 U.S. 167, 97 S.Ct. 421, 50 L.Ed.2d 376 (1976) (school board meeting); Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad, 420 U.S. 546, 95 S.Ct. 1239, 43 L.Ed.2d 448 (1975) (municipal theater). Although the government is not indefinitely bound to ... retain the open character of the facility, as long as it does so it is bound by the same standards as apply in a traditional public forum. Perry Educ. Ass'n, 460 U.S. at 46, 103 S.Ct. at 955, 74 L.Ed.2d at 805. The third category of government-owned property is [p]ublic property which is not by tradition or designation a forum for public communication [and] is governed by different standards ... than the strict standards governing the government's right to restrict communicative activity in traditional public forums. Perry Educ. Ass'n, 460 U.S. at 46, 103 S.Ct. at 955, 74 L.Ed.2d at 805 (1983). The Supreme Court of the United States has recognized that the First Amendment does not guarantee access to property simply because it is owned or controlled by the government. United States Postal Service v. Council of Greenburgh Civic Assns., 453 U.S. 114, 129, 101 S.Ct. 2676, 2685, 69 L.Ed.2d 517, 530 (1981) (U.S. mail letterbox, although government property, is not a traditional public forum). See also Perry Educ. Ass'n, supra (School mail facilities were not a traditional public forum); Greer v. Spock, 424 U.S. 828, 96 S.Ct. 1211, 47 L.Ed.2d 505 (1976) (military base is not a traditional public forum); Lehman v. City of Shaker Heights, 418 U.S. 298, 94 S.Ct. 2714, 41 L.Ed.2d 770 (1974) (advertising space found in city rapid transit cars is not a traditional public forum); Adderley v. Florida, 385 U.S. 39, 87 S.Ct. 242, 17 L.Ed.2d 149 (1966) (jail or prison is not a traditional public forum). Thus, the Supreme Court of the United States has held that when such a forum is present the state [i]n addition to time, place, and manner regulations, ... may reserve the forum for its intended purposes, communicative or otherwise, as long as the regulation on speech is reasonable and not an effort to suppress expression merely because public officials oppose the speaker's view.... As we have stated on several occasions, ``[t]he State, no less than a private owner of property, has power to preserve the property under its control for the use to which it is lawfully dedicated.'` Perry Educ. Ass'n, 460 U.S. at 46, 103 S.Ct. at 955, 74 L.Ed.2d at 805 ( citing and quoting Council of Greenburgh Civic Assns., 453 U.S. at 129-30, 101 S.Ct. at 2685, 69 L.Ed.2d at 530). Determining what forum is at issue may be difficult. It is important to remember that `[t]he truth is that open spaces and public places differ very much in their character, and before you could say whether a certain thing could be done in a certain place you would have to know the history of the particular place.' Although American constitutional jurisprudence, in the light of the First Amendment, has been jealous to preserve access to public places for purposes of free speech, the nature of the forum and the conflicting interests involved have remained important in determining the degree of protection afforded by the Amendment to the speech in question. Lehman, 418 U.S. at 302-03, 94 S.Ct. at 2717, 41 L.Ed.2d at 777 ( quoting Lord Dunedin, in M'Ara v. Magistrates of Edinburgh, [1913] Sess. Cas. 1059, 1073-1074). Our review of the record indicates that the Oglebay Park resort could consist of more than one forum. Clearly, the open areas of the park fall within the traditional public forum category because they are areas that have historically been used for assembly and debate. However, areas like the hotel rooms and possibly the restaurants may fall within the third category of government-owned property which traditionally have not been used as a forum for public communication and thus, warrant a different analysis than the open areas of the park which may include the parking lots. The question of whether certain areas of Oglebay Park are in fact `public forum' may blur at the edges[.] Council of Greenburgh Civic Assns., 453 U.S. at 132, 101 S.Ct. at 2687, 69 L.Ed.2d at 532. [7] In the case before us, the record is devoid of any determination by the circuit court of what forums would be affected by the preliminary injunction. Determining the nature of the government property that is at issue is crucial in helping a court decide what restrictions on a person's or group's right to free speech are constitutional. This Court is unable to definitively determine what categories of government property would be present in the case before us because the record is not developed on this issue. Even though other forums could be at issue, because the parties in the case before us focus on the traditional public forum, our focus in the remainder of this opinion will be on the analysis which should be used when determining whether the injunction in the case before us impermissibly restricts speech made in a public forum.