JARDINE: Yellow stripes clash with red, white and blue

I need to start this off with a note to the editor:

Put a bright yellow border around this column with the words "Designated Free Speech Area" stenciled in.

That would match what Modesto city officials recently imposed upon the sidewalk at the transportation center downtown.

This episode involves Kevin Borden, who in 2009 received a $1 settlement in federal court from the city after it stopped him from preaching fire-and-brimstone sermons in front of Brenden Theatres at Tenth Street Place. The city also had to pay $35,000 to cover his legal fees.

Ultimately, he took his pulpit to the transportation center, preaching atop a box near the ticket office and infor- mation booth.

On Dec. 6, according to documents, some bus riders complained about him and particularly how loudly he spoke in the always noisy bus depot.

Marcie Garza, who has dispensed tickets and route information for the past six years, said that while he didn't bother her, he did bother some of the bus riders. A policeman told him to move and he refused, again challenging the city.

The city's legal department determined that it controls the "time, place or manner" of protected speech in public. Because the depot wasn't created for the "purposes of assembly, communicating thoughts between citizens, and discussing public questions," it could decide where on the premises he could exercise his free speech rights.

Hence, it created the "Designated Free Speech Area" on a sidewalk about 25 yards away, closer to where riders board the lesser-used county buses and next to the Union Pacific tracks. It's a box painted on the sidewalk.

Remember the TV show "WKRP in Cincinnati," when ag reporter Les Nessman taped lines on the floor to act as the walls of his imaginary "office"? It's that kind of thing.

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JARDINE: Yellow stripes clash with red, white and blue