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Zoo Enjoined From Barring Religious Group's Sale of T-Shirts

By Howard M. Friedman

In Higher Taste v. City of Tacoma, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60638 (WD WA, June 4, 2010), a Washington federal district court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the enforcement of a resolution adopted by the Metro Park District of Tacoma restricting the sale of goods in the entrance area of the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. Plaintiff, Higher Taste, is a religious organization whose purpose is "to propagate, through the dissemination of educational literature and other expressive items, such as message-bearing T-shirts, the principles of non-violence, animal protection, vegetarianism, and spiritual ecology (as set forth in the Vedic literatures of ancient India)...." The Park District's resolution barred Higher Taste from selling their T-shirts, or distributing them in exchange for a voluntary contribution, on the walkway leading to the front of the zoo. The court concluded that the Park District had not met its burden of showing that its restriction is narrowly tailored to meet its significant interests in park aesthetics and public safety.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on June 22, 2010 (boomark / email).