Higher Taste, Inc. v. City of Tacoma

Plaintiff Higher Taste Inc. is a nonprofit religious organization dedicated to promoting non-violence, community harmony, spiritual ecology, and the humane treatment of animals. It seeks to disseminate its message and raise funds by selling T-shirts adorned with messages related to its spiritual mission. For years Higher Taste sold its T-shirts at a public zoo operated by the principal defendant in this case, the Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma, from a table set up along the main walkway leading from the parking area to the zoo’s entrance. This proved to be a prime location, ensuring that a steady stream of the zoo’s 500,000-600,000 annual visitors would be exposed to Higher Taste’s teachings.

In 2005, the Park District adopted Resolution 40-05, which banned the sale of any merchandise near the zoo’s entrance, along the walkways leading to the zoo’s entrance, or in the zoo’s parking area. At first, the Park District allowed Higher Taste to continue selling its T-shirts at the zoo, albeit not at the prime location Higher Taste had previously occupied. But in March 2010, the Park District, taking an expansive view of its power under the resolution, banned Higher Taste…