SAN DIEGO—The city of San Diego’s ban on yoga classes in public parks and beaches was ruled unconstitutional on June 4 by a federal appeals court that found such classes are protected by the First Amendment.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling states city officials had not shown any “plausible connection between plaintiffs teaching yoga and any threat to public safety and enjoyment in the city’s shoreline parks.”
The crackdown on the classes stemmed from an amended ordinance concerning street vendors that also prohibited other types of commercial activity without a permit, such as yoga classes attended by four or more people.
The city’s ban was challenged in a federal lawsuit filed by yoga instructors Steven Hubbard and Amy Baack, who said their classes were conducted free of charge and the city’s enforcement on such gatherings violated their First Amendment rights.
While a federal judge ruled in the city’s favor, the 9th Circuit panel wrote, “Teaching yoga is protected speech” and that “because the ordinance targets teaching yoga, it plainly implicates Hubbard and Baack’s First Amendment right to speak.”
While the city had argued the prohibition was in line with its interests in “protecting the enjoyment and safety of the public in the use of” parks, the panel wrote that the city “has provided no explanation as to how teaching yoga would lead to harmful consequences to these interests, or even what those consequences might be.”
A San Diego City Attorney’s representative said the city is “evaluating the decision and potential next steps.”
Hubbard and Baack also filed a separate lawsuit against the city earlier this year in state court, which claimed Hubbard was cited multiple times for livestreaming yoga classes from his home. Those citations were allegedly issued because the YouTube-streamed lessons could be viewed by people at a city park, according to the complaint.
