He makes sure that fair's fair at the fair
Paul Levy, Star Tribune
September 4, 2005

Bob Jackson is about to judge the State Fair's latest battle of the bands, but the tune is all too familiar.

Two neighboring food vendors, who lure customers with live music, had agreed at the fair's start not to blast music at the same time. But they do anyway. And now one has complained to fair officials.

...

"I'm probably one of the few people who loses weight at the fair," says Jackson, one of four "space checkers" who walk the fairgrounds 12 hours a day -- about 10 miles each day -- mediating disputes between vendors, removing bumper stickers from poles and keeping booth occupants within their boundaries.

"Space encroachment," Jackson explains. "An inch is everything to these people."

Nobody is allowed to cross these invisible but well-defined lines.

Jackson said that three years ago he chastised Sen. Norm Coleman, running for office at the time, for straying beyond his booth to hand out brochures.

...

Dressed in shorts, athletic shoes, sunglasses and occasionally puffing on a cigar, Jackson appears as relaxed as any other fair browser. Only the identification tag dangling from a necklace gives him away.

He approaches two men, near Kennedy's booth, holding signs that read "Quit Ducking the Issue, Hands Off Our Social Security." Signs of protest aren't allowed at the fair, he explains to Zach Rodvold, a sign carrier who tells Jackson he's state director for Minnesota United to Protect Social Security.

"He's doing his job and we're doing our job," says Rodvold, who tucks his sign under his arm and walks away.

Everyone complies with Jackson. If they hope to return to the fair, what other choice do they have? But many of the excuses are choice.

....

On June 22, 1981, the Supreme Court decided the case of Heffron, the secretary and manager of the Minnesota State Agricultural Society, v. ISKCON 48 [Hare Krishna].

Minnesota State Agricultural Society operates the Minnesota state fair. They have a rule mandating that all groups or persons wishing to sell or distribute materials must have a license and do so from a fixed location. However, groups may verbally communicate their message throughout the fair. ISKCON alleged that the mandate violated their First Amendment rights because it suppressed the practice of Sankirtan, a religious ritual that enjoins its members to go into public places to distribute or sell religious literature and to solicit donations for the support of the Krishna religion.

The Supreme Court decided that the restriction of ISKCON to a fixed location was a valid provision in light of the circumstances of the number of people and space restrictions. Furthermore, because the regulation applied to all organizations, ISKCON must follow [the fair rules].

Actually this was decided in a court case over 10 years ago.