Overview
- Steve Hubbard filed a damages suit on June 22, 2026, challenging three misdemeanor citations park rangers issued in May 2025 for teaching yoga and for giving a lecture.
- The complaint builds on a September 2025 Ninth Circuit injunction that found teaching yoga likely qualifies as First Amendment speech and blocked enforcement of parts of the city’s 2024 permit rule.
- One citation challenged in the new suit came after Hubbard live-streamed a class from his backyard and rangers cited him because people in a public park were watching and following along.
- A San Diego Superior Court previously dismissed the criminal prosecutions of those citations in April when no park ranger or city attorney appeared to prosecute the cases.
- Separately, the city has issued broad subpoenas seeking Venmo and bank records, social media content and GPS data for students and donors, and a July 17 hearing will determine whether those discovery requests proceed ahead of a January 2027 state trial.