Legal
2008 Democratic National Convention

On Wednesday, July 2, the Rocky Mountain News printed a discussion between its editorial board and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper about preparations for the Democratic National Convention. Mayor Hickenlooper expressed his "disappointment" that the ACLU of Colorado has found it necessary to file three lawsuits in order to defend free speech at the Convention. The newpaper quoted the Mayor as saying:

"I don't feel like we've done anything but try to make sure that we're going to protect everyone's free speech and everyone's rights," Hickenlooper said during a meeting with the Rocky Mountain News editorial board. "It was as if we were deliberately trying to maneuver against them, and nothing could be further from the truth...You hate to say it, but I was deeply disappointed in the organization," he said.

In response to that statement, here is a reply from our Legal Director Mark Silverstein:

I believe that both the ACLU and the City administration want Denver to be as friendly to First Amendment rights as is possible while accommodating legitimate security concerns.

The City administration's sympathy to civil liberties is evidenced, for example, by the Mayor's public commitment, in the Declaration of Extraordinary Event at the end of February, to set up a parade route that would take participants "within sight and sound" of the convention site. It is also evidenced by the City's promise to establish a "public demonstration zone" that is within sight and sound of the delegates on the grounds of the Pepsi Center.

We disagree about whether the City has been able so far to live up to those commitments. Courts have disagreed in the past with law enforcement's efforts to balance security concerns on the one hand with First Amendment rights on the other.

It is the ACLU's role and responsibility to ensure that judicial review occurs in this case in Denver. Similarly, courts have disagreed with government officials' efforts to balance their desire for secrecy with the public's right to know what its government is doing. When Denver agencies invoke "security" as a reason to withhold public records, it is the proper role of the ACLU to test that rationale in the courts.

--Mark Silverstein, Legal Director, ACLU of Colorado

Back to the DNC page