The New York Times nytimes.com
May 3, 2008
Convention Preparations Prompt Suit by A.C.L.U.
By KIRK JOHNSON
DENVER — Groups planning parades or protests at the Democratic National Convention filed a lawsuit here on Friday charging that the Secret Service and the City of Denver are threatening free speech — not because of tight security rules, but by the very lack of them.
The suit, filed in Federal District Court , says that delays in establishing legal parade routes, and unanswered questions about security arrangements around the convention center, are undermining efforts to plan for events when Democrats gather here from Aug. 25 to 28.
Mark Silverstein, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado , which is representing 12 groups in the lawsuit, said they had no choice but to turn to the court. With just four months until the convention, the groups want a judge to speed the scheduling and the issuing of rules governing activities outside the Pepsi Center .
At the Democratic convention in Boston in 2004, First Amendment challenges could not be addressed by judges, Mr. Silverstein said, because security measures were announced too late.
“In Boston , the trial court and the court of appeals said there was not enough time for full evaluation and not enough time to carry out any orders the courts might issue,” Mr. Silverstein said. “For that reason, we are filing now and asking the court to place this case on a top-priority schedule.”
Specifically, the suit asks the court to order the Secret Service to immediately provide information to the city that will allow Denver officials to begin considering permit requests for parades and specifying a “demonstration zone” near the convention center. The suit also asks the court to review those regulations for violations of free speech protection.
A spokesman for the Secret Service, Ed Donovan, declined to comment on the suit or the agency’s timetable for communicating with the city on security rules.
The attorney for the City of Denver , David Fine, said in a statement that the city was not trying to thwart free speech.
“No one has been denied the right to protest,” Mr. Fine said. “In fact, you will see a vigorous exercise of free speech during the convention in many ways and in many places. That being said, we will review the plaintiffs’ papers and respond as necessary.”
The groups suing include several that plan to draw attention to various issues and causes, like the Troops Out Now Coalition, which opposes the war in Iraq . Another group, Citizens for Obama, wants to march on behalf of a favored presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois .
One member of the lawsuit coalition, Glenn Spagnuolo, from a group called Recreate 68, which is planning multiple demonstrations on issues including health care and the war, said at a news conference that he thought the delays had been deliberate.
Every passing week of uncertainty, Mr. Spagnuolo said, hobbles the efforts to recruit people to come to Denver and speak their minds.
“If they announce it very close to August that, yes, you will have your permits, these groups are now shut out of hotels, shut out of flights, buses are booked to come to Denver and it’s impossible for them to logistically come here and exercise their First Amendment right,” Mr. Spagnuolo said. “In our opinion, it’s a planned tactic.”
The suit itself does not make that claim.
Mr. Silverstein said, “We have to take the city at its word that it doesn’t have enough information from the Secret Service to process the permits, and that’s why we’re asking the court to get the two parties together.”
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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