COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
FRANKLIN COUNTY, OH


ROBERT A. NEINAST
8617 Ashford Lane
Pickerington, OH 43147
Plaintiff,
v.
OHIO EXPOSITIONS COMMISSION
717 E. 17th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43211

and
VIRGIL L. STRICkLER
717 E. 17th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43211
Defendants.
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Case ______________


Judge _____________


COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY JUDGMENT AND PERMANENT INJUNCTION



Now comes Plaintiff Robert A. Neinast, acting pro se, and for his Complaint, respectfully states as follows:

1. Plaintiff Robert A. Neinast is a citizen and a resident of Ohio, residing at 8617 Ashford Lane, Pickerington, OH.

2. Defendant Ohio Expositions Commission is the governing authority for conducting the Ohio State Fair.

3. Defendant Virgil Strickler is the General Manager of the Ohio Expo Center and State Fair, and is being sued in his official capacity.

4. Within the ambit of his personal liberty, Mr. Neinast customarily and regularly goes barefoot. While this exercise of personal liberty requires no justification, Mr. Neinast avers that he goes barefoot for health, comfort, expressive and spiritual reasons.

5. On August 9, 2008, Mr. Neinast was ejected from the Ohio State Fair for being barefoot.

6. At the entrances to the Ohio State Fair are signs, labeled “Conditions for Admission,” that contains an item saying, “All patrons, vendors, concessionaires and exhibitors must wear shirts and shoes on the fairgrounds.

7. Although called a condition for admission, this restriction is in reality a rule, since it meets the definition in the Ohio Revised Code regarding agencies of the state.

8. The shoe rule has never been enacted by the Ohio Expositions Commission and published in the Ohio Administrative Code, as required by law in order for a rule to become effective.

9. The Ohio General Assembly has not granted the Ohio Expositions Commission the authority to create and enforce such a rule.

10. Mr. Neinast had previously visited the Ohio State Fair barefoot on at least 11 other occasions, starting in 1997, and never been ejected before August 9, 2008.

11. Mr. Neinast has also seen others barefoot at the Ohio State Fair, including in the Brown Arena and the Gilligan Complex, and there have been news stories in the Columbus Dispatch that include descriptions of barefoot participants in the Fair.

12. On August 26, 2008 Mr. Neinast wrote to the General Manager of the Ohio State Fair, Mr. Strickler, asking that the shoe rule be rescinded, and providing information that bare feet are not unduly unsafe and that shoes are the possible causes of other injuries. Mr. Strickler responded in a letter dated September 5, 2008, that the Fair has “conditions for admission for the safety of our guests while visiting the facility.”

13. The shoe rule arbitrarily, capriciously, and unreasonably singles out bare feet as a hazardous footwear condition.

14. Mr. Neinast intends to continue to visit the Ohio State Fair barefoot in future years (as he has in past years), and is under continuing threat of ejection or prosecution.

CAUSES OF ACTION

15. The shoe rule, a so-called “condition for admission,” is not authorized by any legislative enactment of the General Assembly, and is an unconstitutional usurpation of the legislative function by the Ohio Expositions Commission and its General Manager.

16. The shoe rule violates Mr. Neinast’s personal liberty guaranteed under the Ohio Constitution.



WHEREFORE, Plaintiff Robert A. Neinast respectfully requests that this Court grant him judgment as follows:

A. Declare that the shoe rule has been promulgated without authority under state law.

B. Declare that the shoe rule infringes upon Mr. Neinast’s personal libery, is arbitrary and capricious, and does not bear a real and substantial relation to the health, safety, morals or general welfare of the public.

C. Issue a permanent injunction preventing the Ohio Expositions Commission and the General Manager from creating or enforcing any rule, regulation, or condition specifying that footwear must be worn at the Ohio State Fair.

D. Order the removal of any reference to shoes or footwear from the signs at the entrances to the Ohio State Fair.

E. Award Plaintiff any other legal and equitable relief to which he is entitled.



  Respectfully submitted,
_______________________
Robert A. Neinast
Plaintiff, PRO SE
8617 Ashford Lane
Pickerington, OH 43147
Phone: (614) 759-1601
Email: neinast@att.net