The First Amendment in Action: Protest at the Zoo
Speaker: Maryam Judar

How does this program relate to the First Amendment?
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the public’s rights to speak in a critical manner of government activity, petition our government for redress of grievances, assemble with like-minded people to have a viewpoint heard, ensure a free press that has the capacity to inform the public of public affairs without restraint by government, and practice any religion we choose.  The images of typical protestors that come to mind are people gathered on various public properties, such as the Mall on Washington, city streets, sidewalks, or a public park with protestors hanging banners, handing out leaflets and holding signs while chanting slogans and otherwise educating onlookers.  While our youth are exposed to these various images that solidify our perception of our right to Free Speech, that freedom is not absolute.   In reality our First Amendment law is complex and riddled with exceptions to the free speech guarantee.

The government has to draw a careful line between censoring political speech and ensuring the effective management of its institutions on public property.  Students, like any other group of concerned members of a community, may wish to communicate with their neighbors, the community at large, and government entities about public practices that they find troublesome or offensive.  The intended audience may be at the school district level or at a national level, and the issue of public concern identified by students may be perceived by “the powers that be” as controversial.  If students want to have their voices heard, but do not want to risk being arrested or disciplined by school administrators, what choices do they have and how do they evaluate whether their protest activity conforms with the law?  Navigating First Amendment law is no easy task.  In this lesson, the real-life example of a citizen wishing to protest the treatment of animals at a zoo located on government property provides the framework for discussing the principles behind speech regulations on public property. 

What will students learn from the program?
Students will learn about the principles behind the Public Forum Doctrine of the First Amendment through exploring the practical effects of permissible “time, place, and manner” restrictions for different locales and means of protest on the public land.  (In this scenario the Cook County Forest Preserve property owns the land where Brookfield Zoo is located.)  Students will learn the difference between “public” fora such as  streets, sidewalks, and parks; “limited” or “designated” fora; and “nonpublic”  fora (e.g., military zones) and how those designations affect free speech rights.  Student will also learn how to identify content-based speech regulation and content-neutral speech regulation; viewpoint restriction; permissible “time, place, and manner” regulations; and permissible licensing schemes. 

In what ways is the program hands-on or interactive?
The presentation is not strictly a lecture and represents an actual intake received by the Citizen Advocacy Center’s community lawyers.  The presentation is designed such that the students are asked to apply the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech to the situation presented: a citizen wishing to protest the treatment of elephants by gathering on or near zoo property, leafleting and holding signs, interacting  with passers-by, and shouting slogans.  The lesson includes a map of the Forest Preserve and the zoo, and students will help identify the possibilities for protest locales given the law and Forest Preserve rules.  The class will divide into groups to discuss the questions posed in the material that will be distributed in the classroom.