Gaudiya Vaishnava Society, a California Religious Non-Profit Corporation v. City and County of San Francisco

ORDER AND AMENDED OPINION

This action challenges the constitutionality of an ordinance which regulates the sale of merchandise on public sidewalks by nonprofit groups. The district court concluded that the ordinance violated the nonprofits’ First Amendment rights and enjoined its enforcement insofar as it prohibits the sale by nonprofit organizations of merchandise constituting or making a statement carrying a political, religious, philosophical or ideological message. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

The appellees are five nonprofit organizations engaged in a variety of charitable, religious and political activities in the San Francisco area. All five of the nonprofit groups have over the past several years sold various message-bearing (“expressive”) merchandise such as T-shirts, books, buttons, stuffed animals, jewelry and bumper stickers. The district court in its findings described each organization: Gaudiya Vaishnava Society, a religious organization, performs sankirtan, a public ritual intended to disseminate the teachings of and win coverts to Gaudiya Vaishnavism. In the course of sankirtan, members collect alms and offer clothing for sale, some of which bear messages related to…