ACLU Wins First Round in Challenge to
Denver’s Rules for Assembly PermitsFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 21, 1998The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado (ACLU) announced today that the City of Denver has agreed to suspend its enforcement of several controversial requirements for issuing assembly permits that the ACLU challenged in a lawsuit filed in August.
As a result, the ACLU’s client, End the Politics of Cruelty (EPOC), will conduct its scheduled rally at the Greek Amphitheater in City Park on October 22 without being forced to purchase a $1 million insurance policy and without being forced to pay for off-duty police officers to provide security.
Before the lawsuit was filed, the Permit Office of Denver’s Parks and Recreation Department routinely conditioned the grant of assembly permits upon proof that the sponsoring organization had purchased the expensive insurance policy and had made arrangements to hire off-duty Denver police.
The lawsuit challenges these policies as an unconstitutional infringement upon the right of free expression. It also challenges Parks and Recreation regulations that prohibit rally organizers from soliciting donations, passing out flyers, and selling items with expressive or communicative messages, such as t-shirts and bumper stickers. The City has also agreed to suspend enforcement of the latter regulations.
"The City should be commended for responding to our lawsuit in a very reasonable manner," said Mark Silverstein, ACLU Legal Director. "We were prepared to ask the court for an emergency injunction that would allow EPOC’s rally to take place. By suspending the challenged regulations, the City has made that unnecessary."
Because the City’s suspension of the challenged regulations is only temporary, however, the litigation is not over. "The City has agreed to review of all the regulations and policies challenged in our lawsuit," Silverstein said. "We will not know the City’s final position until that review is completed later this year. But if the City continues to insist that permit applicants purchase expensive insurance or police protection as the price for exercising their First Amendment rights, they will have a fight on their hands."
EPOC’s rally, which will begin at 5:30 pm on Thursday, is part of a coordinated nationwide campaign to focus public awareness on police misconduct and the need for greater accountability to the public. Two recent reports by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International highlight numerous cases of alleged police brutality as examples of violations of international human rights law by law enforcement agencies in the United States. Amnesty’s report, released October 6, includes two examples from Denver, according to representatives of Amnesty International Local Group 60, which is also participating in Thursday’s rally.
Return to 1998 News Releases Main Page
Return to ACLU of Colorado Home PageThis page was last updated 01/15/00.
© Copyright 1998, ACLU of Colorado, All Rights Reserved