SAN DIEGO – The fight may not be over yet.
It was back to the beach for yoga after a federal appeals court on June 4 struck down the city’s ban on free yoga taught in public outdoor spaces.
But in reply, the city has not backed down. Instead, it has asked for a full appellate review of this decision by the federal appeals court to try to re-establish a beach and parks yoga ban. The city continues to maintain that its ordinance was necessary to regulate commercial activities in public spaces.
The June 4 ruling reversed a lower court’s decision upholding the city’s ordinance banning group yoga and fitness classes in public shoreline areas without a permit. The court also issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting enforcement of that ordinance.
“We are unable to comment on pending litigation,” said Ibrahim Ahmed, communications manager for the San Diego City Attorney’s office.
Yoga instructors Amy Baack and Steven Hubbard are co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit that challenged the city’s outdoor public yoga ban. Baack was almost arrested 13 months ago while teaching a yoga class at Sunset Cliffs.
Pease Law, APC in Point Loma is representing Baack and Hubbard in their lawsuit against the city. “Nothing surprises me,” was Pease’s reaction to the city’s appealing the June 4 judicial ruling.
Asked why he thought the city was re-dedicating more money and resources to fight a free wellness activity, Pease replied: “There may be some level of ego involved because a memo about 10 years or more ago stated that the city could pass a ban on beach yoga if they wanted to. I don’t know what role, if any, that plays in this.”
In Pease’s view, it will be extremely difficult for the city to prevail in its latest legal action seeking to reinstate a beach and parks yoga ban.
In posing its challenge, he said the city will be asking the full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to consider taking on the case. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has jurisdiction over two territories and nine Western states, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.
“The Ninth Circuit has 29 judges,” Pease pointed out. “They will use a panel of 11 judges selected at random. There is no basis for revisiting it. I would say there is next to zero chance that it’s going to be heard by the panel.”
Asked how his clients feel about the city’s appeal, Pease said: “They’re just outraged like everybody else has been from the beginning, in this strange saga targeting beach yoga. It’s poor governance that has been consistently siding with business interests against the community. Instead of spending time and resources on something like this, the City could be going after looters, consumer fraud, and other things.”
In its ruling reversing the ban, the court found that public yoga in outdoor places falls within the Constitution’s First Amendment, protecting fundamental freedoms including religion, speech, the press, assembly, and the right to petition the government.
San Diego had initially implemented the ban as part of a street vendor ordinance, classifying yoga classes attended by four or more people as a commercial activity requiring a permit. The city’s argument was that this was necessary to manage public spaces and ensure safety.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria’s stance on beach yoga aligns with San Diego’s Municipal Code, which mandates permits for groups of four or more to engage in commercial recreational activities, such as yoga, in parks and limits these activities to designated areas.
His stance is also that accepting donations for services, even if voluntary, is considered illegal.
The city’s code, in place since 1993, requires permits for commercial activities like yoga when involving at least four individuals. Recent updates to the municipal code further clarified which activities need permits and reiterated the prohibition of any form of payment for services, including donations. Enforcement of these codes is carried out by park rangers, police, and lifeguards for public safety.
Until this June, it had been almost a year since Hubbard, a yoga instructor for nearly 18 years, taught yoga outdoors at Law St. in Pacific Beach due to the city’s ban. He noted the city’s public yoga ban forced him to stream yoga classes from his backyard on his YouTube channel.
He has argued that free outdoor yoga has made the practice “accessible to the whole community, including people with disabilities, retired people on fixed incomes, or anybody else who’s financially disadvantaged.”
