Protest zone far cry from Pepsi Center, ACLU says
New suit claims delegates won't hear activities
By Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published June 30, 2008 at 3:54 p.m.
Updated July 1, 2008 at 12:04 a.m.
Photo by John Sopinski
© The Rocky
The protest zone used by protesters at the Democratic National Convention will be in the far south corner of Lot A - more than two football fields away from the Pepsi Center's main doors. Protest groups and the ACLU say the distance will make it impossible to communicate with people attending the convention.
The designated protest zone at the Democratic National Convention will be more than two football fields away from the Pepsi Center - a revelation that drew new legal challenges Monday from the American Civil Liberties Union.
The ACLU, which represents 13 protest groups, says the site effectively denies protesters their right to free speech because delegates and others attending the DNC won't be able to see or hear them.
According to a map released by the city late last week, the protest zone will be in the southern corner of Lot A, about 700 feet from the Pepsi Center. In some places, the view of the building's main doors is obstructed by trees and sculptures.
"No human voice, or any other sound . . . can ever hope to reach a person at the entrance," lawyers for the ACLU wrote in an amended complaint filed in federal court in Denver.
But Denver city attorney David Fine said the city is confident people in the area "will be within sight and sound of the delegates."
The location of the protest zone is significant to demonstrators because most of the area closest to the Pepsi Center, including adjacent sidewalks and streets, will be closed to the public for security reasons.
In a complaint filed in federal court, the ACLU is asking U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger to order the city and the Secret Service to locate the protest zone, which will be surrounded by a wire mesh fence, closer to the Pepsi Center.
Krieger has scheduled a trial for July 29 - less than a month before the convention starts - to settle that and other issues raised by the ACLU. Krieger was also asked to:
* Bar authorities from searching people entering the protest zone unless police have probable cause, or from declaring that police have the right to search anyone in the protest area.
The city has not said how it will handle searches, but Fine said Monday that, "Simply put, we are going to abide by the Constitution."
* Allow protesters to hand out leaflets to people attending the convention who are within the secured perimeter of the Pepsi Center. The city has said this will be prohibited.
* Allow parades to pass near the Pepsi Center and at times when delegates are present.
The city's approved parade route runs from near Civic Center, west on Colfax Avenue and north on Speer Boulevard to Lari mer Street. People may then walk through the Auraria campus to Seventh Street and Auraria Parkway, which is the entry and exit point for the protest zone in Parking Lot A.
It does not include Chopper Circle or Ninth Street adjacent to the Pepsi Center as the protest groups want, and the route through the campus will not accommodate floats or vehicles.
The city is allowing parades only between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Convention organizers have said delegates will arrive at the Pepsi Center each day around 3 p.m., about an hour before the convention program begins.
* Approve alternate parade routes for two groups. One group wants to hold an immigration parade that would start at 29th Street and Speer Boulevard and run south to Sunken Gardens park. The other wants to march from Civic Center to the federal courthouse at 18th and Stout streets to urge the release of "political prisoners." The city has denied both requests.
City officials and the Secret Service have said they must balance the rights of people to express themselves with the need for security during the DNC, scheduled for Aug. 25-28.
They insist the public will still have ample opportunity to communicate with the delegates and others attending the convention, whether it's outside the Pepsi Center or at events scheduled throughout the city.
burnetts@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5343
What the ACLU wants
When the ACLU first sued Denver and the Secret Service in federal court, it wanted information about parade routes and the protest zone during the Democratic National Convention.
The government wanted to keep the plans secret for security reasons, but so far has said:
* The protest zone will be 53,414 square feet in the south corner of Lot A, a parking lot near the Pepsi Center's main entrance.
* The zone will be surrounded by a fence that people can see and hear through.
* Parades will start near 14th Avenue and Bannock Street, head west on Colfax Avenue, then north on Speer Boulevard to Larimer. Pedestrians may then walk through the Auraria campus to the protest zone at Seventh Avenue and Auraria Parkway.
* Parades will be allowed only between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., and no alternate routes are allowed.
* Details such as how many people will be allowed inside the protest zone, whether protesters will be able to use sound amplifiers and if everyone entering will be subject to search have not been decided or have not been made public.
Now the ACLU is challenging some of the plans, saying they violate constitutional rights to free speech. They asked a federal judge to:
* Move the protest zone closer to the Pepsi Center and ensure it's large enough for everyone who wants to enter.
* Bar police from searching people who enter unless they have probable cause.
* Allow alternate parade routes and allow parades in the evening and that pass directly by the Pepsi Center on Ninth Avenue and Chopper Circle.
* Allow protesters to hand leaflets to delegates.
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June 30, 2008
1:59 p.m.
Suggest removal
squeakywheel writes:
The ACLU vs. the DNC. Ya gotta love it.
June 30, 2008
2:03 p.m.
Suggest removal
squeakywheel writes:
They are actually going to put chicken wire around the protesters. What a yoke. I guess they don't want egg on their faces. I think they only listen to free-range protesters.
June 30, 2008
2:17 p.m.
Suggest removal
The_Punnisher writes:
How is the SS of today any different that the SS of NAZI Germany? This SS would rather have a " Euthanizing Zone too, IMHO.....
June 30, 2008
2:30 p.m.
Suggest removal
squeakywheel writes:
I can picture Bill Clinton in the cage screaming "Obama kiss my a**!"
June 30, 2008
2:30 p.m.
Suggest removal
Shaggy writes:
The DNC is just begging for a riot if they put these protesters behind chicken wire and time limit..
Im sure glad I don't live in Denver when they all get stuck with the demolition tap.
June 30, 2008
2:38 p.m.
Suggest removal
squeakywheel writes:
Maybe the cage is the "undisclosed location" mentioned in the confiscated fireworks article.
June 30, 2008
3:23 p.m.
MarineGrunt writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
June 30, 2008
4:56 p.m.
Suggest removal
ParkHillPosse writes:
Any person who invokes a comparison between anything today and the Nazis or the SS or the Gestapo (that means you Punnisher) should be publicly beaten. Have some respect for the people who suffered under the Nazis, you classless fool. You have so little respect for or understanding of history that you'd use the example of the Nazis to criticize a protest policy for the Convention? Punnisher: you truly have no class or intelligence.
No policy or action by the US government or judicial authority can reasonably be compared to the state-sponsored horror of the Nazis, and any invocation of such a comparison is not only baseless but irresponsible. Furthermore, unless you live in Darfur or Zimbabwe you have no comprehension of what state-sponsored violence means, so let's drop the unnecessary rhetoric in your critiques of public protest policy.
June 30, 2008
5:28 p.m.
Suggest removal
HopiMedicineMan writes:
You fight for a right to disgrace your dignity? The presence of all but native peoples are offensive in this land to Massau'u. No right is permissible from this earth but that paired with an equal responsibility. These lawyers don't know law, they corrupt law as worms on carrion. Know that this river has a destination.
June 30, 2008
5:52 p.m.
Suggest removal
drkenne writes:
Actions speak louder then words. The dissenting voices of thousands of protesters trump leaflets any day. Besides, voices are environmentally friendly as you don’t have to kill trees and don’t take up space in landfills. The eyes of the world will be on Denver in August, and it’s time to show the world that there are many Americans who believe this war is wrong and that Bush and his small circle of neo con cronies are not a good representation of the goodness that America really stands for. I’m certain that if violence (which I don’t support) erupts in Denver, the Bushites, the criminals they are, will use it as a further excuse to erode our civil liberties.
It’s time to stand up and be counted, because if we don’t, we truly have become a nation of sheep and will never be able to undo the damage Bush has done. It’s time to take America back.
June 30, 2008
6:14 p.m.
Suggest removal
HopiMedicineMan writes:
The prophesy will come to pass. You will bake in the hot sun and dry to a fine powder to feed the corn of Hopi children. You have nothing to take back that you don't already possess. Your days are over.
June 30, 2008
7:37 p.m.
Suggest removal
Scott writes:
Hey Grunt!
Quit insulting "retarded kids". Kids that are mentally retarded are of much higher moral fiber and I.Q. than either the DNC or ACLU :-)
Scott
June 30, 2008
7:43 p.m.
Suggest removal
Scott writes:
I'm going to have to wash my mouth out with soap after this posting, but ....
I'll agree with the American Communist LeagUe in that the "public demonstration zone" should be moved within sight and sound of the delegates. These morons, democrat politicians, spawned these idiots. Therefore, the morons should have to listen to them. And smell 'em ;-)
Scott
July 1, 2008
12:57 p.m.
Suggest removal
daRock writes:
The Pepsi Center has been leased to a private organization. The event planners have every right to restrict who comes onto the leased property during their event. This is NO different than World Youth Day in 1993 when the pope came to Denver. Pro-choice protestors opposed to the Catholic position had no right to demand to be within the leased area.
Yes, there is a right to free speech, but there is also a right to free assembly and a right NOT to be forced to listen. The DNC and the Pepsi Center are being very gracious to even let the protesters gather on space that has been leased out.
The DNC has put up insurance and assurances that all costs associated with their event will be covered by them.
I would love to see the equivalent contract, insurance and assurance to not force the citizens of Denver to pay for their event including secutiry, sanitation and clean up
This would include any organization that wants to gather in our parks, put on a parade or protest. No contract/bond=no permit.
All other event producers must do this. This includes all other conventions, concert promoters, symphony/arts groups and outdoor festival promoters. Why should the other organizations NOT be held to the same standards?
My 2 cents