ACLU of Texas Urges Federal Court To Uphold Free Speech in Houston’s Public Parks

HOUSTON — The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas today filed a friend-of-the-court brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit challenging the unconstitutional suppression of free speech at Discovery Green, a public park in downtown Houston.

The brief supports the lawsuit Dubash v. City of Houston, which claims that animal rights advocates Daraius Dubash and Dr. Faraz Harsini peacefully protested industrial animal practices at Discovery Green over several months. Each time, the park’s private management — the Discovery Green Conservancy — and Houston police ordered them to leave, even though the park serves as a common gathering place for public events, free expression, and peaceful protests. The fourth time, officers forcibly removed and arrested Dubash because the Conservancy thought the demonstrator’s speech was not appropriate. The lower court dismissed this lawsuit largely because Discovery Green is privately managed.

The brief asks the court to reverse the lower court and reaffirm that public parks remain open spaces for community members to gather and exercise their First Amendment rights regardless of whether the park is operated by private management. The brief also argues that officers cannot escape accountability for violating demonstrators’ rights by claiming to have mistaken a public park for private property.

The following quote can be attributed to ACLU of Texas Attorney Sarah Corning (she/her):

“Public parks belong to the people. The First Amendment forbids the government from picking and choosing who gets to speak, and public officials cannot hide behind a public-private partnership to silence opinions they don’t like. Every Houstonian has the right to peacefully express their views in public spaces like Discovery Green.”

Access the brief here: https://www.aclutx.org/app/uploads/drupal/sites/default/files/discovery_green_brief_comms.pdf