California County Can’t Criminalize Reporter at Street Sideshow

Alameda County, Calif.'s, ordinance that would criminalize a journalist’s reporting near street sideshows doesn’t pass muster under strict scrutiny, the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday.

The ordinance banning spectators within 200 feet of a sideshow as applied to journalist Jose Antonio Garcia is likely in violation of the First Amendment, Judge Holly A. Thomas said. The district court erred in ruling the First Amendment didn’t apply to his reporting and the ordinance was content neutral.

Garcia’s likely to succeed on the merits of his constitutional claim, Thomas said. “We therefore reverse the district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction on Garcia’s ...