City demands "special event" permit (think $$$) for healthcare-now demonstration. ACLU intervenes.

[Bozita]

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100315/NEWS05/3150362/1001/NEWS/ACLU-intervenes-after-Birmingham-protest&template=fullarticle

POSTED: MARCH 15, 2010
ACLU intervenes after Birmingham protest
Restrictions said to violate rights; demonstration OK'd
BY BILL LAITNER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER


Two weeks after his peaceful demonstration to endorse health care reform drew 150 people to Birmingham in September, organizer Tom Zerafa got a letter from the city's police department.

For any future demonstrations, the letter said he would need to request a special-event permit at least 90 days beforehand and pay for police overtime, which can cost thousands of dollars.

Those demands are unconstitutional, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. In letters sent Feb. 18 to Birmingham's city attorney, mayor and police chief, the ACLU cited court rulings from across the country that repeatedly have said communities must let demonstrators freely gather -- no strings attached.

The ACLU asked Birmingham to "avoid any additional violations of the First Amendment" by changing its ordinance and to give Zerafa written assurance that he could can hold another demonstration without a permit, and without being arrested.

Zerafa, 59, of Oak Park, a metro-Detroit leader of the liberal group MoveOn.org, is still waiting for that written assurance. He is planning his next demonstration in Birmingham, at Maple and Woodward, on Friday, the seventh anniversary of the start of U.S. military action in Iraq.

Last week, the ACLU asked for clarification after getting a letter from the city that says that Zerafa doesn't need a permit after all: "It is my opinion that the peaceful assembly of citizens on the sidewalk is not a 'special event,' as long as it does not subject the sidewalk to a greater use than usual," Birmingham City Attorney Tim Currier wrote.

more...

[HopeHoops]

1. Gee, I wonder if the teabaggers or Fred Phelps and his band of daemons got that letter.

:shrug:

[Cirque du So-What]

3. Good point

Whistledicks in city government are digging themselves quite the hole, eh?

[LiberalFighter]

4. Make sure it says on the letter that it has been blessed and kissed by a gay and lesbian.

Then they would enjoy opening the letter and finding the news. Not


Hmmm that would be a good idea... arrange 1 letter each day to be mailed to them saying it was blessed and kissed by a gay and a lesbian. It would contaminate all of their other mail and they couldn't open them without getting cursed by their god.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. Doesn't Birmingham have a city attorney - at least one on retainer?

Doesn't anyone in city government see the need to consult with an attorney before suspending the 1st Amendment? If not, then they are not practicing good stewardship over the city's resources. Court time isn't cheap, yunno, and that's exactly where this is headed unless they start observing laws and stop flying by the seat of their pants where governance is concerned. Amateur hour is over!