Gaudiya Vaishnava Society v. City of Monterey

MEMORANDUM-DECISION & ORDER

Plaintiffs Gaudiya Vaishnava Society (“GVS”) and Cultural Media Services, doing business as Eco Watch (“Eco Watch”), commenced this action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief prohibiting defendants, the City of Monterey* California (“Monterey”) and the City of Santa Cruz, California (“Santa Cruz”), from enforcing their respective ordinances, Monterey City Code section 32-3 (the “Monterey ordinance”) and Santa Cruz Municipal Code section 5.43.025 (the “Santa Cruz ordinance”). Plaintiffs contend that the ordinances are unconstitutional on their face and as applied to them because they infringe upon their First Amendment rights by prohibiting the distribution of message-bearing T-shirts in exchange for donations anywhere in Monterey and along the waterfront area in Santa Cruz. Essentially, GVS challenges the Monterey ordinance while Eco Watch challenges the Santa Cruz ordinance.

At the outset, plaintiffs applied for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction prohibiting defendants from enforcing their respective ordinances. The court denied the TRO application and directed defendants to show cause why the court should not issue a…