At the 2011 Minnesota State Fair, Colin Wilkinson dressed in patriot garb and played a snare drum to show support for presidential candidate Ron Paul. Despite the lack of any State Fair rules regulating such conduct, officials ordered Mr. Wilkinson to stop, telling him that he could only play the drum under the confines of an officially licensed booth.
While officials cited a State Fair rule prohibiting the unlicensed handing out or promotion of materials, this rule does not apply to Mr. Wilkinson's show of support for Ron Paul, as he merely sought to express himself rather than promote any material.
The State Fair does have a constitutional right to set reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on speech when it has a legitimate government interest. That said, the Supreme Court has ruled that public forums may restrict the distribution of literature only when individuals are allowed to express themselves vocally and mingle with the crowd (Grayned v. Rockford 1972). The Supreme Court has thus recognized that public propagation of views, like that of Mr. Wilkerson, constitutes protected speech. By ordering Mr. Wilkinson to confine his expression to a licensed booth, State Fair officials violated Mr. Wilkinson's right to freedom of expression.
The ACLU has informed the State Fair of this violation of Wilkinson's rights and has requested that the State Fair allow Wilkinson's demonstration and rethink its policies on public expression.