From Mytych v. National Park Service, decided Thursday by Judge Trevor McFadden (D.D.C.):
David Mytych helps run a volunteer nonprofit called FLARE USA{, a volunteer nonprofit organization committed to political expression and advocacy about authoritarianism, impeachment, and constitutional accountability}. For months, FLARE maintained a demonstration [in Columbus Plaza] outside Union Station in Washington, D.C., to express its views on various political issues. FLARE had a National Park Service ("NPS") permit to do so. {FLARE picked Columbus Plaza for its position as the "main pedestrian gateway between Union Station and the United States Capitol" ….} But toward the year's end, NPS told Mytych and FLARE that a construction project required the demonstration to move to a nearby park….
The First Amendment ensures "that members of the public retain strong free speech rights when they venture into public streets and parks." These areas are traditional public fora, meaning they "occupy a special position in terms of First Amendment protection because of their historic role as sites for discussion and debate." …
That said, … [c]ourts endorse [content-neutral] time, place, and manner restrictions [on speech in traditional public fora] to address a variety of significant governmental interests.
