State park officials in West Virginia won't appeal a free-speech case they lost.
In September 2007, members of the Constitution Party of West Virginia traveled to Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park to obtain signatures to get their candidates on the state ballot. Doug McKusick of the Rutherford Institute explains park rangers told workers they had to stop. "There was a rule or regulation of the parks which talked about no soliciting in state parks -- and this is sort of what they were hanging their hat on," says McKusick. The attorney believes signature-gathering does not constitute soliciting. "This wasn't commercial activity of any kind," he says. "They weren't asking for money or trying to sell things." McKusick argues his clients' activities are protected by the First Amendment and were being done in a public facility. And while he acknowledges that the regulation did give park rangers the opportunity to grant permission, no perimeters were set for them. "As it turned out," he concludes, "the court held that that was too vague and violated the Constitution." The Rutherford Institute won a judgment in favor of the Constitution Party -- and the state says it will not pursue the case further.
If you believe OneNewsNow.com is an important source for Christian news, please consider a small tax-deductible gift for this service.
