PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 31, 2026
Prosecutor Moves to Dismiss Trespass Citation for First Amendment Considerations
Caldwell, Idaho — Canyon County Prosecuting Attorney Christopher Boyd has moved to dismiss State of Idaho v. Titus N. Folks, Case No. CR14-26-10419.
The infraction arose from a trespass citation at a permitted, publicly advertised event at Lakeview Park in Nampa. Titus Folks set up a table in a reserved portion of the park, spoke with participants, and attempted to hand out flyers. Event organizers asked him to leave and called police. Officers told him he could relocate outside the reserved area and issued a citation only after he requested one.
A public park is a traditional public forum. After reviewing the evidence and applicable precedent, the Prosecuting Attorney concluded that a permit for an event that is open to the public does not give the permit holder unfettered discretion to exclude a person from that forum for the content of his speech. While Folks could be properly required to relocate his table, he could not be precluded from speaking with and handing flyers out to participants at the event based upon the content of his speech.
“The officers handled a difficult situation professionally and in good faith,” Boyd said. “That does not change the constitutional analysis. The First Amendment does not yield to a permit or a preference. It is the enduring promise of American liberty that no citizen will be silenced in a public forum for the content of his speech.”
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