8th Circuit Upholds Solicitation Ban At Revenue Offices

In Brown v. Arkansas Department of Administration, (8th Cir., Feb. 3, 2017), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a suit brought by a Rastafarian minister challenging a no-solicitation policy at certain state Revenue Offices.  The ban prevented the minister from continuing to setup a table on the lawn of a revenue office to seek signatures for a ballot initiative on the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act. (See prior posting.)  The appeals court held that the private property immediately surrounding the revenue office was a nonpublic forum, that the ban was reasonably related to the State’s interest in running revenue offices, and was viewpoint neutral.