Dubash v. City of Houston, et al.

Docket: No. 24-20485 (5th Cir.)

HLLI filed an amicus brief with Young America’s Foundation and Advancing American Freedom is support of the free speech rights of Houstonians asking the Fifth Circuit to overturn a lower court’s order blessing the restriction of First Amendment activity in a public park in City of Houston because the city delegated control of the park to a private non-profit corporation whose sole purpose is the operation of the park for the public.

The case arose when two animal rights activists Darius Dubash and Faraz Harsini sought to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights in Discovery Green, a public park located in downtown Houston. Dubash and Harsini’s activities sought to educate the public about what they believe to be the harms created by industrial farming. But the City of Houston expelled them from the park on three seperate occasions on the basis that their message was “offensive,” even though others had been allowed to undertake similar activities in Discovery Green before.

When Dubash and Harsini sued the city, alleging it was unconstutionally infringing on their First Amendment rights, the city argued it was not because it had delegated control of the part to a non-profit corporation for the purpose of operating the park and because that corporation was a private entity under their theory, it did not have to respect the First Amendment rights as any government actor would. Unfortunately, the district court agreed, and this appeal followed.

The amicus brief filed by Young American’s Foundation, HLLI, and Advancing American Freedom supports the animal Dubash and Harsini arguing that the city cannot legally delegate its constitutional obligation to respect the First Amendment rights of Americans. Further, allowing the city to do so would set a terrible precendent amounting to a heckler’s veto of disfavored viewpoints, the very thing the First Amendment seeks to protect. For instance, we have already seen government actors in the form of public universities attempt similar end runs around the First Amendment.

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