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When a government establishes a limited public forum, it is not <br />required to allow persons to engage in every type of speech. In some <br />cases, the Court has stated that the government may be justified "in <br />reserving [its forum] for certain groups or for the discussion of <br />certain topics." However, and this is the tough part, the restriction <br />must not discriminate against speech on the basis of viewpoint, and the <br />restriction must be `reasonable in light of the purpose served by the <br />forum." <br />A content-neutral permit or use policy that focuses on time, place and <br />manner restrictions will be sustained. However, even a content-neutral <br />time, place, and manner regulation can be applied in such a manner as <br />to stifle free expression. It thus must contain adequate standards to <br />guide an official's decision and render that decision subject to <br />effective judicial review. <br />Our current policy of generally reserving or preserving the Council <br />chamber for City Council activities and meetings, but also allowing it <br />to be used by any other person(s) on a space available basis is <br />defensible. Similarly, limiting the Council chamber to only Council <br />and related uses (City commissions, boards, and staff) is defensible <br />from a constitutional perspective. This type of policy provides a <br />fairly safe harbor and allows for little chance of claimed <br />misapplication by city administrative staff. The reason for this is <br />that either policy moves the classification of the room usage away from <br />the limited fora classification. <br />Any policy that attempts to differentiate potential users based on the <br />tax-status of an organization, or any other similar criteria, will be <br />subject to legal challenge, either as adopted or as applied. Failed <br />classification schemes include those attempting to draw distinctions <br />between good and bad music (Mozart v. Marilyn Manson), good and bad <br />citizens (veteran's groups v. the KKK), and good and bad art. <br />There is no guaranteed predictor in these cases when limited public <br />fora are involved. The cases are highly fact specific and extremely <br />dependent on the composition of the Court, since the judicial <br />precedents are quite malleable. <br />For this reason, r do not recommend use of an IRS tax classification as <br />the basis for allowing or not allowing use of city meeting space. I <br />also do not recommend any policy that would allow "non-political" <br />groups to use city meeting rooms but disallow "political" groups to use <br />those same city meeting rooms. Similarly, I do not recommend a policy <br />that discriminates based on the possible political content or format of <br />the proposed meeting. <br />Speaking solely from the defensibility perspective, I prefer <br />maintaining the current use policy or eliminating all non-city/non- <br />government usage of city meeting rooms. If we allow every private <br />group to use our meeting space or no private group to use our meeting <br />space we stand a much better chance of sustaining our meeting room <br />policy. Allowing some private groups to use our meeting space but not <br />others means those who are discriminated against can always sue .• and <br />often win, especially where decisions about who can use a room depend <br />on the content of what a speaker may say. <br />