LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln man arrested and convicted of trespassing for handing out religious leaflets on public land is appealing a ruling last month favoring the city.

Larry Ball filed notice Tuesday that he is appealing U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp’s ruling to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Last month, Smith Camp granted the city of Lincoln’s request for summary judgment, ending Ball’s lawsuit.

The 78-year-old Ball sued after being found guilty last year of two misdemeanor trespassing counts and fined $100. Ball has maintained that the area in front of the Pinnacle Bank Arena entrance where he was handing out pamphlets is a public sidewalk and that the city violated his free-speech rights.

But the city says the area is quasi-public because it’s contracted to private tenants.