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Two animal-rights advocates are claiming First Amendment violations after being charged with misdemeanors for protesting without a permit this summer against alleged mistreatment of animals at Lagoon.

Jeremy Beckham and Lexie Levitt were charged this week in Davis County Justice Court with "failure to obtain permit to gather and/or demonstrate" — a class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail.

"This is an unnecessary burden for exercising our free-speech rights," Beckham said Friday, noting that he has won settlements from Salt Lake County and the city of South Jordan over permit requirements for protesters. "The courts have said over and over again all over this county that a small spontaneous demonstration that occurs on a traditional public forum does not require a permit."

Beckham, director of the Utah Animal Rights Coalition, is charged in connection with a protest on July 16 that involved four people carrying signs for about 90 minutes outside Lagoon's offices in Farmington. He said someone activated the water sprinklers on the office grounds to drive the protesters away.

Two days later, Beckham joined about 20 people, including Levitt, across the street from the park in another protest. Animal advocates for several years have criticized the park's conditions for animals on the "Wild Kingdom Train," which features a number of exotic animals such as lions, tigers, wildebeests, and other large animals.

Levitt was charged in connection with the July 18 protest.

"The charges could really affect me negatively," said Levitt, an organizer with the group Direct Action Everywhere. "I'm going to be graduating with my master's degree in social work, and social worker jobs always do background checks."

No one was arrested while at the protests. Instead, Beckham and Levitt were served by police officers this week at their homes in Salt Lake City.

"A lot of people involved in the campaign are honestly scared," said Beckham. "Police are building evidence files and tracking people down at their homes. It just doesn't sound like America."

Beckham and Levitt said they sought a permit from Farmington to protest across the street from the park itself, but decided they couldn't afford the $50 fee because they planned to protest several times throughout the park's summer season.

"We corresponded with [the city] over and over again," Beckham said. "They refused to waive the $50 fee. We can't afford that."

Beckham described the permit process, which includes a 17-page application, as "a Kafka-esque bureaucracy nightmare."

"This process is so burdensome, so costly, and those measures are not allowed under the First Amendment," he said.

Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings, whose justice court division is prosecuting the criminal case, said he first learned of the matter when called by The Tribune.

"I will discuss it with the justice court prosecution staff and see what the basis of the prosecution is," Rawlings said. "At the end of the day, maybe the protesters are correct. We'll look at it with an open mind, and we'll take their factual and constitutional defenses seriously."

Civil rights attorney Stewart Gollan is representing Beckham and Levitt in fighting the permit requirement. He said that protest permits are only constitutional on traditional "public forums" if the protest has implications for public order or public safety — say, a protest march that impedes traffic or requires road closures or extra patrols.

"I don't think there is any government interest they can point to," Gollan said. "Simply wanting a permit isn't a legitimate government interest. A small protest on a public sidewalk — that isn't going to cause any problems. And I would guess that same piece of property has been used many, many times as a meeting place for gatherings of people going to Lagoon."

Lagoon spokesman Adam Leishman said the city's permit requirement supports public order.

"We are a member of this community in Farmington city, we've been here for 129 years, and we support the city in their efforts to keep everybody safe," Leishman said.

Beckham said he suspects the city would not have been so vigilant about permit enforcement if the target of the protest had been anyone but Lagoon.

"I have little doubt this is all a result of the fact that Lagoon is the largest employer in Farmington city, and they make a huge part of the tax base, he said. "But the Farmington City police are not Lagoon's goons. The way they've been co-opted by this corporation to come after critics is really scary."

Animal advocates have said the animals on the Wild Kingdom Train live in cages with concrete floors and metal bars.

"All of their enclosures are very small," Beckham said. "They do not remotely mimic these animals' natural habitats. These tigers and lions have been there for years, and they've never once put their foot on grass."

Leishman disputed that the animals are unhappy.

"The animals are very well cared for," Leishman said. "We have regular visits by the U.S. [Department of Agriculture]. Within the last two weeks we had an unannounced visit by inspectors. As ever, we're in excellent standing with the U.S. Government. The animals are in excellent conditions, and they're content."