Tarrant County commissioners denied the use of a county subcourthouse to the NAACP after disagreeing over the civil rights group鈥檚 politics.
The Arlington chapter of the NAACP requested to use a community room at their city鈥檚 subcourthouse 鈥� which is owned and operated by the county 鈥� to host monthly public meetings from May to November. The group asked that commissioners waive the estimated $2,600 in fees needed to pay for after-hours personnel and security.
Commissioners voted along party lines April 14 to deny the request, with the court鈥檚 three Republicans voting no. GOP Commissioner Matt Krause said he couldn鈥檛 approve the request out of concern that the events would be perceived as partisan, which free speech experts said could pose First Amendment violations.
鈥淚f you ask people, 鈥楧oes the NAACP identify with one political party over the other and do more politicking and partisanship for one party over the other?鈥� I think a strong majority would say, 鈥極h, certainly they do,鈥欌�� Krause told the Fort Worth Report on Wednesday. 鈥淲hether that's a positive or a negative, I'm not saying that one way or the other.鈥�
Before , Krause recalled denying a similar request in his own precinct when a resident asked to use a county subcourthouse to host voter registration training. Although he believes the training could have been helpful, Krause said, he denied the request because of the applicant鈥檚 past affiliations with the GOP and concern about the perception of partisanship.
Democratic Commissioner Alisa Simmons, whose precinct includes the Arlington subcourthouse, argued that the NAACP is nonpartisan and should be allowed to use the county building. Simmons is running for the countywide judge seat on the Commissioners Court in the November election.
鈥淚t is a policy organization with a mission to advance civil rights and human rights 鈥� that鈥檚 it,鈥� Simmons said at the meeting.
Rejecting the NAACP鈥檚 application sets a dangerous precedent and raises serious questions about fairness, Simmons added in a statement to the Report.
鈥淎 community room is not a reward for approved opinions. It is a public space governed by neutral rules,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淚f this request meets those rules, and it does, it should be approved.鈥�
The First Amendment protects most forms of speech and expression in public forums, such as public sidewalks and parks. Government facilities are typically considered public forums. Government bodies may impose reasonable rules to restrict speech, but those rules must be viewpoint-neutral and appropriate to the building鈥檚 intended use.
Under the county鈥檚 facility use policy, people and organizations may request to use county buildings after business hours for non-governmental uses such as weddings, meetings, political activities and press conferences. County officials may deny such requests if the applicant has previously violated the policy rules; if the proposed use would 鈥渟ubstantially disrupt鈥� the building鈥檚 usual operations; or if the proposed use poses health or safety risks or violates state or federal law, according to the policy.
The NAACP doesn鈥檛 appear to have violated any of the listed criteria, said Lynne Rambo, a professor emerita with Texas A&M School of Law.
鈥淪o when the county says we're going to deny you anyway, there's nothing left to think but that they are discriminating against the NAACP,鈥� Rambo said. 鈥淭hey're keeping out one particular organization that doesn't present the very concerns they identify, and so the only thing one can conclude is that it's because it is the NAACP.鈥�
Commissioners must enforce the facilities use policy 鈥渇airly and without discrimination on the basis of the political, religious, philosophical or ideological viewpoints expressed by any person,鈥� it states. However, it also states that commissioners may authorize exceptions or amendments at any time, which Rambo said leaves room for discretionary interpretation and enforcement.
鈥淭hat is a very disfavored formulation under the First Amendment,鈥� Rambo said. 鈥淭hat's exactly what we don't want is the government making choices about who it will allow to speak and who it will not allow to speak without any limitation on its discretion.鈥�
The Arlington NAACP requested to use the subcourthouse 鈥渢hat our tax dollars have already paid for,鈥� president Jason Thomas told the Report. The church where the group used to meet doesn鈥檛 have enough space anymore, he said.
Monthly NAACP meetings focus on voter education and civic engagement 鈥渨ithout a partisan slant,鈥� Thomas said. The Arlington chapter would happily present its meeting topic to commissioners each month, he said.
鈥淲e're trying to get on the schedule, and we will gracefully show what we're going over,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淚 don't think kidney disease or getting into housing or any of those things are partisan in nature at all.鈥�
During the April 14 meeting, commissioners unanimously approved two other requests to use county facilities. One was from the Tarrant County Historical Commission to host guided tours of the downtown Fort Worth courthouse during the Main Street Arts Festival, and the other was to let the National Family Law Trial Institute host an educational mock trial at the Family Law Center.
Commissioners can鈥檛 鈥減ick and choose鈥� which groups may use county property, said David Keating, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Free Speech dedicated to protecting political speech under the First Amendment.
鈥淚 know it may not be popular, but if they're going to allow the Girl Scouts to use it, they鈥檝e got to let the other groups use it,鈥� Keating said. 鈥淭hat's the way it works.鈥�
Keating and Thomas agreed in separate interviews that the decision to reject the NAACP鈥檚 application appears based on the group鈥檚 viewpoints, which would violate the First Amendment right to freedom of speech and expression.
Commissioners could amend the policy to prohibit all political activity in county facilities, Thomas said, noting that would mitigate concerns about politically motivated discrimination.
鈥淓ither put the reasons in the policy and abide by them, or that's it,鈥� Rambo said. 鈥淵ou don't get to have some outside discretion that you're exercising.鈥�
Krause maintains that the decision didn鈥檛 violate the First Amendment, saying 鈥渄iscretion is a legitimate standard.鈥�
鈥淣o matter which precinct it is or which group it is, if it's going to get the appearance of using our public courthouses for something political or partisan, I'm probably going to vote against that, because it's not the best interest of the citizens,鈥� Krause said.
In 2024, the Tarrant County-based conservative activist group True Texas Project for revoking 鈥� then later reinstating 鈥� a reservation to host their anniversary conference at the city-owned Fort Worth Botanic Garden. The high-profile event drew national scrutiny for its panel discussions on 鈥渢he war on White America鈥� and the Great Replacement Theory, a widely debunked theory that white people are being replaced by non-white immigrants, particularly from Muslim-majority countries.
Controversy surrounding that event, as well as other , ultimately led city officials to overturn a longstanding policy prohibiting events with discriminatory content from being held on city-owned property.
In the meantime, the Arlington NAACP continues to look for a new meeting location, Thomas said. The chapter met virtually Tuesday night, which he admitted wasn鈥檛 the best situation, but 鈥渋t worked out.鈥�
鈥淲e got a Zoom subscription, but we'd like to meet in person,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淎t the end of the day, you know, nothing beats face-to-face interaction and community.鈥�
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
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