Bank of Stockton v. Church of Soldiers

We find ourselves in the domain where free speech and private property rights collide. A church solicited donations from a bank’s customers on the bank’s private property. The bank brought an action to enjoin the solicitation, and the trial court granted a preliminary injunction. We hold the bank can exercise its right to limit the activities of those who use the bank’s property to activities related to the business of the bank, even though the solicitors desire to exercise a free speech right. Accordingly, we affirm.

Facts and Procedure

The plaintiff, Bank of Stockton, or the Bank, is a local bank with its main branch in downtown Stockton. This main branch, where the dispute in this case originated, is a two-story building with the Bank as its sole tenant and is adjoined on the north by a large parking lot owned by the Bank. A public sidewalk abuts the Bank on the south and west, and the main entrance is on the south end of the building; however, most customers use the north entrance, crossing the Bank’s private sidewalk to enter the Bank from the parking lot.

The defendant, Church of Soldiers of the Cross of Christ of the State of California, or the Church, is a…