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Residents are raising concerns that a new policy in Fullerton is designed to censor bloggers and reporters who write articles critical of local politicians and violates freedom of speech rights.
On Tuesday, Fullerton City Council Members voted 4-1 in support of a new policy that would ban materials not produced by the government – like community newspapers – from being placed in nearly all city facilities except a certain part of the library.
The policy allows for community produced materials to be placed on corkboard in the Main Library subject to size limitations.
To view the policy, click here.
Councilman Ahmad Zahra was the lone dissenting vote, arguing the policy would open the city up to a lawsuit and targets the Friends For Fullerton’s Future blog – a blog that often criticizes him.
Friends for Fullerton’s Future was sued by the city after bloggers published secret city hall documents detailing police misconduct. The case was settled roughly four years ago.
“I didn’t run away from a dictatorship in Syria to come and be part of this. I swore an allegiance to our flag and an oath to the Constitution to uphold its values,” Zahra said at Tuesday’s meeting.
“I always think that weak people and weak politicians and those who have something to hide
don’t like the press.”
Zahra also said this policy targets the Fullerton Observer, a community newspaper, and sets Fullerton up for a lawsuit – a city that staff projects will be hit by a $20 million deficit in 2027.
“This is overreaching, encroaching on the First Amendment. I think it opens us up to liability and it’s a solution in search of a problem,” he said. “I don’t think we need to change the status quo.”
Mayor Fred Jung defended the policy and said it was neutral.
“The city attorney was pretty clear to not single out publications. I mean, are you hard of hearing council member? I don’t understand,” Jung said in response to Zahra.
David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition, said a policy like Fullerton’s is generally not unconstitutional as long as it remains content-neutral.
Loy pointed out that the resolution allows for material from the League of California Cities – an association of municipal governments across the state that advocates for state bills.
“If they’re going to restrict it to government entities only, then they should restrict it to government entities. The league itself, as far as I know, is not itself, a government entity,” Loy said.
The size limit for material that can go on the community cork board is 8.5 by 14 inches. The Daily Titan – the student newspaper of Cal State Fullerton that had a news rack at city hall – is printed on paper that is 11 by 17 inches in size.
The Fullerton Observer, which also had a news rack at city hall, is the same size.
All materials posted on the corkboard will have to be approved by the Library director and will stay up for a week, according to the policy.
The policy would also create a community news space – a rack at the main library to allow for local newspapers to be displayed – at the request of Councilwoman Shana Charles.
Charles said the council was trying to balance interests between allowing the distribution of public information in public spaces and not endorsing any organization or publication.
“I don’t want to make a decision on fear, I want to make a decision on freedom of the press,” she said.
Charles said when she first heard Friends For Fullerton’s Future wanted to begin printing the blog and distribute it at city hall, she wasn’t opposed, even though she said they didn’t mention her “in flattering terms.”
Yet she said her stance changed after finding graffiti she called hate speech in Hillcrest Park earlier this year.
She noted that many residents have reached out to her in opposition to the policy. In the end, she supported the policy with inclusion of a community news display.
Councilman Nick Dunlap supported Charles’ request for what he described as a “free speech area.”
City Attorney Dick Jones said staff will meet with library administrators to create a specific policy for the news rack.
The policy comes as officials in Huntington Beach have been grappling with which books should be available to kids at public libraries.
[Read: Surf City Continues Struggling Over the Future of Library]
Assistant City Attorney Baron Bettenhausen said similar display policies have been adopted in Newport Beach and Irvine.
“City of San Juan Capistrano did have a policy they did abandon, essentially, after some litigation,” he said.
The Policy’s Origins
Jones said the policy proposal surfaced after the Friends For Fullerton’s Future blog contacted city staff about their intention to print their blog and request a permit to distribute their publication at city hall.
He said the request sparked a discussion on whether public facilities like city hall should be a public forum, ultimately leading to the policy
“It should not be a discussion of retaliation. It should not be a focus on any particular organization or group. It should be focused with respect to the broader policy issues that have arisen considering the use of our public spaces,” he said.
“If the council’s actions this evening are retaliatory or focused in nature on a given publication, that would violate the First Amendment.”
Zahra questioned if that was an accurate representation of how this policy came about.
“I certainly was not part of any discussion to bring this forward. I know it was discussed in closed session, but I didn’t bring it to closed session,” he said.
Residents Sound Off on Censorship Concerns
At the meeting, residents sounded off on the proposed policy, worrying that it was going too far and is an attempt to censor local blogs and newspapers.
Resident Karen Lloreda said this was an issue of American freedom and limiting the press.
“I am very concerned that public buildings are not for public use,” said Lloreda. “Democracy is based on our ability to express ourselves and be heard, this action is trying to suppress that.”
Lloreda added, “Don’t restrict access. Don’t restrict the press.”
Joshua Ferguson, who previously wrote for Friends For Fullerton’s Future and was one of the bloggers the city unsuccessfully sued, said it’s not a First Amendment issue if it’s content neutral.
“If you try to say that only established papers can be here, you are going to run so far afoul of the Supreme Court and the First Amendment that I will sue you, and you will have to pay me and my attorney again,” Ferguson said. “And it will be hilarious.”
Jose Trinidad Castenada, a former Buena Park City Councilman, supported the policy, calling it consistent and clear.
“This policy is very clean. It doesn’t get into the messiness of whether or not a headline is inflammatory, or someone has a bias or whatever,” he said.
Saskia Kennedy, editor and owner of the Fullerton Observer, a community volunteer newspaper, said that 40 years ago, the city requested the paper to be displayed in the lobby, but recently she said she found the rack of papers to be hidden from public view.
“I feel like this is targeting the Fullerton Observer,” Kennedy said, adding that established papers should be allowed in the foyer of the library.
In a phone interview Wednesday, Kennedy said they’re continuing their print edition for the people who do not go online and she is unsure of how this decision will impact their paper.
She adds she wants to brush up on First Amendment case laws before weighing in further.
Zahra lambasted the policy in a statement he texted to local press Wednesday morning and said the move reduces transparency, limits access to information for residents and hinders public participation in local government.
“Attend city council meetings. Support your local press.”
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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