Can there anything more disgusting than playground stalkers targetting children, whatever their agenda? Anyone who solicits my kid is likely to get a punch in the face; and that's if my wife catches 'em. Me? They'd be lucky if I didn't attempt to trump their First Amendment rights with the Second Aemendment one's I recenly acquired thanks to the Roberts Court (that was a joke).

At least Chabad waits until the kids are over 13.

Nonetheless, my agreement with you has some limits, which I suspect you may embrace as well.

Playgrounds definately fall into an area where permits should be required (and quite possibly never granted) for anyone to pass out lit or hondle passers-by. Other areas (e.g., bike paths), also have safety concerns, which may trump free speech if enforced in a content neutral manner.

But I have real First Amendment concerns about applications which are too broad. The 9th Street entrance to the park should be (and is, whether de facto or de jure) open to everyone to hand out whatever materials they please on concert nights, permit or not. Parks are one of the few real public squares we have left in our City. We should not be so quick to restrict access to such places for speech. In fact, we should be demanding access to such places for speech. And, that means for the annoying (as well as the enlightening), including flag burners and snake handlers.

Further, as much as it nauseates me, prostelytizing is doubly protected, as both free speech and free exercise of religion.

However, I think content neutral rules concerning children and the places they frequent does pass constitutuional muster.