RNC protesters sue St. Paul

Lawyers for the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War have filed suit in federal court against the city of St. Paul over the permit process. The coalition had previously stated that it would sue if the city did not provide march organizers with adequate information regarding time and place with the permit.

St. Paul police have said that they will issue that information by May 31, a full three months after the coalition was granted a conditional permit and a year and a half after the coalition first requested a permit to march.

Continued: Click “Read more”The Minnesota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union released this statement about the contents of the lawsuit:

The City has violated the Coalition’s right to free speech and due process by failing to issue anything other than an ambiguous “Conditional Alternative Permit” in response to the Coalition’s demonstration application, and by failing to grant the Coalition’s appeal of the “Conditional Alternative Permit”, to seek basic clarification of the conditions under which the demonstration will occur.

The current “Conditional Alternative Permit” fails to specify any time or route for the demonstration, and imposes police guidelines that conflict with City ordinance and violate the First Amendment.  The City of St. Paul simultaneously maintains that the current permit provides a sufficient answer to the Coalition’s application, and that the current permit does not constitute a final permit sufficient to warrant an appeal. Such an ambiguous position restrains both the Coalition’s speech rights and its access to administrative process. In the interest of free speech and rigorous public discourse, the Coalition must be granted its permit in full, with sufficient time to continue planning for the influx of up to 50,000 demonstrators in St. Paul in September, 2008.