8th Circuit: OK To Ban Religious Leafleting On Plaza of Sports Arena

In Ball v. City of Lincoln, Nebraska, (8th Cir., Aug. 29, 2017), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the city did not infringe the free speech rights of a city resident who insisted on handing out Christian religious literature in the plaza area of a municipal sports arena to those attending high school basketball tournaments. A majority of the 3-judge panel held that the entire plaza area is a non-public forum, and the policy barring leafleting in that area is reasonable. Judge Melloy dissented in part, concluding that a portion of the plaza area is a traditional public forum. Lincoln Journal-Star reports on the decision.