Parks are for the public. Sometimes families and friends get together for a picnic at a public park. They may play volleyball, throw frisbees, fly a kite. In San Diego, they do not want you to do yoga. Not a joke. This irrational and stupid abuse of power went to the Ninth Circuit—which declared the idiots running the parks and beaches are nut cases—paid for with our tax dollars.
“The Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday that San Diego’s ban on teaching yoga in its coastal parks and beaches violates the First Amendment, affirming that yoga instruction involves expressive conduct protected by free speech rights.
A unanimous appellate panel overturned a San Diego trial judge’s ruling that denied a preliminary injunction sought by two yoga instructors barred from offering free classes in oceanfront parks.
While the lower court held that teaching yoga wasn’t protected speech, the panel found it involves both verbal and expressive communication and is therefore covered by the First Amendment.”
This has nothing to do with free speech—it is about a form of exercise—and isn’t that what our beaches and parks are about? As for me, I do not do yoga—because my body does not bend that way anymore. That does not mean you should not do yoga. Who are the nut cases wanting to outlaw public yoga? Immediate therapy for them.
San Diego ban on beach and park yoga classes overturned by Ninth Circuit
The appellate panel found that the city had failed to provide a compelling reason to ban free yoga classes from its beaches and shoreline parks last year.
Edvard Pettersson, Courthousenews, 6/4/25 https://www.courthousenews.com/san-diego-ban-on-beach-and-park-yoga-classes-overturned-by-ninth-circuit/
(CN) — The Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday that San Diego’s ban on teaching yoga in its coastal parks and beaches violates the First Amendment, affirming that yoga instruction involves expressive conduct protected by free speech rights.
A unanimous appellate panel overturned a San Diego trial judge’s ruling that denied a preliminary injunction sought by two yoga instructors barred from offering free classes in oceanfront parks.
While the lower court held that teaching yoga wasn’t protected speech, the panel found it involves both verbal and expressive communication and is therefore covered by the First Amendment.
“The First Amendment’s protections for speech encompass situations where a teacher’s speech to students imparts a specific skill or communicates advice derived from specialized knowledge,” U.S. Circuit Judge Holly Thomas, a Joe Biden appointee, said. “The practice of yoga teaches students to attain spiritual fulfillment through control of the mind and body.”
The city’s 2024 ordinance defined teaching yoga as a non-expressive activity and prohibited teaching it to four or more people, even for free, in its shoreline parks and beaches without permission.
Two teachers sued San Diego last year, claiming the city attorney’s office lumped their practice in with massage services, dog trainers, fitness classes, and businesses that stage areas for picnics and bonfires.
What separates their classes from those commercial activities, they argued, is that they don’t charge students and are instead funded through voluntary donations.
“Plaintiffs are engaged in pure speech, teaching yoga to anyone who wishes to listen and participate,” they said in their complaint. “They are not charging fees, and they are not blocking or restricting access to any public space. Passively accepting donations in a way that is not ‘inherently intrusive or potentially coercive’ is similarly protected speech under California law.”
The Ninth Circuit panel observed that San Diego views and treats its ordinance as a content-based restriction, conceding that it permits teaching subjects such as tai chi and Shakespeare at shoreline parks and beaches, while prohibiting the teaching of yoga.
And given that the ordinance isn’t “content neutral,” the panel said it could only uphold it if San Diego can show that it “furthers a compelling interest and is narrowly tailored to achieve that interest.”
However, the city’s argument that the prohibition on yoga classes somehow protects the enjoyment and safety of the public in the use of its shoreline parks didn’t persuade the appellate panel.
“Although public safety is a compelling interest,—and even assuming for the sake of argument that public enjoyment is as well—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,” Thomas wrote.
“The city cannot explain, moreover, why an outright ban on teaching yoga is the least restrictive means of meeting its interests,” the judge added. “The City already has restrictions on large groups and on expressive activity that blocks the safe flow of pedestrians or other traffic. It has also designated expressive activity areas within parks, which appear to address the same concerns the city raises here. Yet the City offers no explanation for why teaching yoga cannot occur in these areas.”
The panel, which also included Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Mary Murguia, a Barack Obama appointee, and U.S. Circuit Judge Gabriel Sanchez, a Biden appointee, sent the case back to the district court with instructions to issue a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the ordinance to free yoga classes.
A spokesperson for the San Diego city attorney’s office said they are evaluating the decision and potential next steps.
Teaching Yoga on San Diego’s beaches is a business and therefore requires a beach permit. The teachers are not that benevolent that they offer their services at no charge. They are trying to make a living. Pay the required fees.