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TechnoratiProtest Zone Far Cry From Pepsi Center, ACLU Says
New Suit Claims Delegates Won't Hear Activities
DENVER - 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.
© 2008 The E.W. Scripps Co.
49 Comments so far
Show Allpapercut, Chakra Khan - Nothing much gets solved by bragadaccio in cyber-space.
Have you ever arrived at a demonstration to find all the streets blocked off by police cars, horses, and lines of tactical forces with guns and shields? You can hardly find the other demonstrators. What exactly would you do then, bold knights? Perhaps you would throw a brick Mr. Khan. And then what? And during a demonstration you can run here and there as an individual throwing bricks or overturning barriers if you want. That's what paid provocateurs do to help justify a police riot.
Years ago I spent many early mornings being chased by horses near draft centers. The first time I was corraled was at an anti George Wallace demonstration. But the police were wilding, not planning and behaving as skillfully and professionally as they are now. Controlling us is now a more developed science. But the main difference was that there were more of us. That is the key.
We were better able to contest legally for suitable parade and demonstration venues. Now "in the pohwst 911 wuhld" security is king.
jimpar July 2nd, 2008 12:17 pm
Check out this website. It cites the sources if you don't believe them.
http://germarrudolf.com/civil/
So what is the truth about Germany today?
-The truth is that in Germany folksingers are threatened with imprisonment for singing peaceful songs;
-a professor who writes his disbelief about certain historical events in a footnote, written in Latin(!), in a scholarly anthology(!) was prosecuted and threatened with jail, and the anthology was confiscated and burned;
-a judge, writing a well-founded, but highly controversial book on historical topics, saw his book confiscated and burned, his pension cut, and his PhD title withdrawn as a result of this;
-a history teacher was sent to jail for uttering historical dissent in a private letter to a high-profile personality;
-a professor criticizing internationalism was kicked out of his job, harassed, prosecuted and driven into suicide;
-a historical dissenter was sent to prison for more than two years just because he published peaceful, scholarly historical material;
well-founded, heavily footnoted books on political and historical topics, authored by academics with plenty of credentials, were and are being confiscated and burned by court order;
-authors, editors, publishers, printers, wholesalers, retailers, importers and exporters, warehouses, and customers buying more than two copies of a certain medium with peaceful, yet dissenting views on history or politics can be prosecuted for producing, stocking, importing/exporting, distributing such dissident material;
-the authorities hide from their citizens, which media are outlawed, so that one cannot possibly know whether or not one commits a crime when distributing such media;
-judges are threatened with prosecution because they did not punish political and historical dissenters harshly enough;
-defense lawyers are prosecuted if they try to introduce evidence showing that the dissenting historical views of their clients, for which they are prosecuted, are in fact correct;
-internet providers are forced by law to censor the internet by not forwarding dissenting political and historical material to their customers;
the authorities are actually proud of conducting more than 10,000 criminal prosecutions every year(!) against persons for having committed peaceful "thought crimes", or more than 100,000 persecutions of peaceful dissenters in ten years!
Hello, Papercut:
Re: your comment "will you be in the FSZ or in the street?"
Interestingly, in Germany, they have "Fahrsicherheitszentrum" (FSZ)in various locations -- "Driving Safety Centers". At an FSZ, people inexperienced at driving or needing to sharpen their skills can go and practice in relative safety without driving "for real" on the Autobahn. Perhaps American citizens need to "practice" free speech in a safe Free Speech Zone before exercising their freedom "for real" on the streets. Sort of like freedom with "training wheels".
dmia July 2nd, 2008 11:57 am
Please don't patronize and belittle patriots exercising their rights under the Constitution. And don't pull your holier-than-thou-crap about having a job. How do you know the protesters don't have jobs but think protesting is important enough to take time off from work? They are doing the country a great service by being there representing those of us that can't.
dmia, care to share how you are protesting the illegal aggression/occupation of Iraq?
So, the idea here is that the DNC is required to provide a place for protestors? Is the DNC also required to have brunch served to the protestors? Is the DNC required to put the protestors up in a hotel? Is the DNC also required to pay airfare to fly protestors in for the event?
For the love of God..... are you telling me that you really can't think of any other way to protest than to stand outside an auditorium to scream as loudly as you can? Do you think anyone takes that seriously? (Hint: nobody takes that seriously.)
I can think of plenty of other ways to express myself. Of course, I have a full time job and I am contributing to the economy, so I have to manage my time. I don't have several days to stand around doing nothing.
So, push several thousand "non-human" protesters into a wire mesh cage, conveniently out of sight, sound, or camera, LOCK THEM IN, then, you turn on the microwave machine. Then a huge tent cover is placed over the cage and in the morning the helicopters remove the cage to an undisclosed location for the postmortems. Free speech in America. Line up over here for the barbecue, you are the main course.
Any sightings of DD anywhere? I miss him and his Dim missives.
How many of you still think we have "representative government" and still think the Democratic Party are your saviors? Since the 2006 election, they have disapointed their constituency repeatedly, and the party faithful still fall for the rhetorical speeches they make. It's time to look at the big picture, people.
PFL July 1st, 2008 6:53 pm Yep...and therein lies the biggest problem and disaster for this country.
protest zone is anywhere you are
who cares about bad laws
you want state sanctioned dissent????
Yes, Samson, but that was 1776 and this is 1984.
If I could afford to go to Denver, I would, and I'd be one of those arrested for "not knowing her place." Those of you who can, get there and make me proud. MAKE THEM LISTEN!!!
Gee, I wonder what Samuel Adams would have done if the British governor of Massachusetts had tried to tell him he could only have a march when and where it was permitted by the royal governor?
Back in the day, the answer probably would have involved a very large crowd and tar and feathers.
American liberty was not won by standing meekly inside a protest zone defined by the government and protesting the policies of the King only when the royal governors deigned to issue a permit to allow a protest.
The creation of a 'free speech zone' that delineates a certain time and place where free speech is allowed by its very existences points out that such free speech (or protest) is not allowed at other places or at other times.
Compare that to what our founding fathers said....
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Note very carefully that the Constitution does not restrict the 'right of the people peaceably to assemble' nor the right 'to petition the Government for a redress of grievances' to 'when permitted by the government'.
Hi papercut,
I like you because your heart is in the right place. We need to work on the tactics because it won't be that easy to drive out the demonic powers that be. They got it on lock. Generally, you got it, we need to fine-tune it my friend. CD is our vent, but I just volunteered for the Green Party. CD can be where we connect and build our movement. Hey, it's a start.
hello talicap,
well, i know the solution but the mechanics are beyond me. but, my idea continues something like this, a million people shut down dc and suround the govt. then "slap some cuffs on..." now this is a little bit dream-like but it is the only solution. people may get hurt or worse but this is what is needed to make a real change. this is serious stuff or it is, like you phrase it, silly and undoable.
and i am not optimistic that you people will do anything except use commondreams as a FSZ on the internet. sacrifice and hardship is the only way to real change. people that have FSZ's deserve FSZ's. FSZ's are by definition "away from the action" and the FSZ know as commondreams is about as far away from the action as you americans can get.
papercut July 1st, 2008 8:35 pm
Okay, so, I get it now. The solution is: I just walk up to Bush and Dick Cheny, and I say, "You are under citizens arrest for crimes against humanity!" I then slap some cuffs on him and take him to jail. Just like that? Good thinking boss.
hello randolfski
attacking me says more about you than about me, doesn't it!
Where am i from, you ask. well, i consider myself a "citizen of the world". you can attack that idea if you want but the important question is, "will you be in the FSZ or in the street?" i know where i will be and that is not in the FSZ. Like I said, people that have FSZ's deserve FSZ's! this is serious stuff here.
Also, seems to me that whining and complaining on commondreams is a FSZ on the web. seems whining and complaing on commondreams is the best the imature, child-like american voter can do to feel like they have done something. but, the only solution to your problem is to arrest the murderous bush/cheney gang, arrest most of the congress and arrest most of the scotus. this is the only real solution. obama is one of them he is not your friend. either move to the streets and shut down your shitty third world country or continue to whine on commondreams.
we both know what your choice is don't we. sacrifice and hardship will win the day but some people must go to jail or worse before bush goes to jail. i am not optimistic are you?
The entire article talks about the Denver city government's decisions of this, not the DNC. It is my understanding that the intense contest between Obama and Clinton diverted the usual funding for the convention itself. So they are having some problems that must now fold in what Denver's police want to do. They are doubtless significantly influenced by Bush administration Homeland Security people. The Homeland Security funding and military training is leaving police departments in many cities viewing themselves less as public servants and more as enforcers viewing political dissenters as the enemy.
papercut July 1st, 2008 4:43 pm
"now we gotta' litsten to you amerikan whiners whine about not being able to protest. you people are a sad joke. why don't you realize that sacrifice and hardship are the only way real change can be made to happen. here's a sugestion; tell the pigs to bugger-off and then protest where and when you want to. that the way they did it way back when. you folks are so spoilt. and then you will whine because you realize obama is one of the bush/ cheney gang.
well, you better get back to living in fear. some things are worth fighting for and sacrificing for, but obviously you guys don't know that and it seems like you will never learn.
wawawa."
where do you live papercut? what are you doing? Is your country free and can you protest at will? Instead of
compalining and putting down all "us whiners", why don't you tell us how brave you are and what you're doing.
Otherwise, shut the fuck up you bigot elitist.
I would say that it is now time, right now, to buy a nice firearm. Presently, we have the right to bear arms, & so it would be rather nice if about 100,000 people showed up with a rifle strung over their shoulders. Might makes right.
The Dems are fascists also. The govorporation grows daily as we sip our sugared coffees.
Nothing new here. Isolating dissent, pushing protesters further and further away from convention centers (remember when they started requiring protesters to stay one block away?), has been happening for years. The media will either merely mention that there is "a small group" of disorganized protesters, or they will be ignored entirely.
What remains a mystery is why people of conscience today will only speak out when and where permitted, IF permitted at all, doing so politely, afraid to ruffle any feathers. "Run along and protest, but just behave yourselves and don't bother the grown-ups." Are there no patriots left? "Shock and awe" indeed. We are on the brink of World War III, and we're still asking permission to speak out!
Look for the code words:
When you hear cops say "barricaded suspect",it means they can kill him. When you hear media stooges or cops say "protestor", that means that, at minimum, he can be assaulted, arrested, imprisoned, and if he has a swarthy complexion, sent to a secret prison and tortured. The ACLU, to their credit, is trying to help, but when the pepper balls start flying at the crowd, and when then Raytheon Ray-Gun is turned on the "protestors" driving them instantly snake-pit insane, the ACLU will only be able to tsk-tsk as the peasants of Denver are used by the PNAC fascists and their assigns as modern-day Guernicans.
How can you tell the difference between a Democrat and a eunuch? You can't. The Dems have now proven there isn't a dime's difference between them and the Republicans. the only change this country will see come November is an exchange of a dumb white guy for an articulate half black guy. The last Progressive President this country had was FDR. Obama is doing everthing he can to demonstrate that he can be as good a plantation owner as Georgie. the guy is shuckin' and jiving faster than lightnen'. Expanding Bush's faith based operations. Supporting the Supreme Court's decision on lifting the ban on guns, chasting Clark for his remarks on McCain's military career, now that sounds progressive. Now the Dems want to give the fasacde that we have free speech and the ability to protest their lame-dick candidate and repressive platform. Welcome to the brave new world.
keep in mind that this travesty will not go down unless Donkeyman condones it.
I'd be willing to bet that 99 percent of those of you theat have posted here will not be anywhere near either convention site. Talk is cheap.
We can swallow this as we've swallowed every violation of the old Constitution for the past seven years, or we can risk arrest and injury by going to the entrance of the convention...Ha Ha! Sorry to mention it, just kidding, did not mean to imply that I was disgusted with the feckless actions of the so-called peace movement and its lack of meaningful initiatives that could actually make a difference. Heavens to betsy, no, "unrealistic," asking too much, etc., etc., ad nauseum. Face it, folks, the treacherous work harder at their mission than do we. They deserve the rewards, and we deserve only what they decide to give us. Listen up, kiddies: whining doesn't work, effective action does. Get some!
Those who most believe in freedom of speech, and who are willing to risk arrest and physical injury from so-called law enforcement, will refuse to be herded into these protest pens.
Thank you in advance to all who do so, and thanks as well to all who support the exercise of constitutional rights that the Bush administration and a Democratic-controlled Congress have done so much to erode.
Just another tactic to help the sheepies keep their heads in the sand.
We wouldn't want them to have to be aware of the grief and horrors their (in)actions cause, now, would we?
Wow, those democrats are such wannabe's, aren't they? Teach those repugs a thang or 2. Can something be laughable and horrifying at the same time?
YOU HAVE EVERY right TO PROTEST, JUST DO IT WHERE YOU CAN'T BE SEEN OR HEARD. the democrates make me sick!!
NUMBERS.....NUMBERS.....NUMBERS....YOU HAVE THE NUMBERS!
if you guys will put up with a "free speech zone" then you truly do deserve a "free speech zone" hahahaha a "fsz"
hahaha just your speed. dont do anything to get into trouble kids. hahaha
now we gotta' litsten to you amerikan whiners whine about not being able to protest. you people are a sad joke. why don't you realize that sacrifice and hardship are the only way real change can be made to happen. here's a sugestion; tell the pigs to bugger-off and then protest where and when you want to. that the way they did it way back when. you folks are so spoilt. and then you will whine because you realize obama is one of the bush/ cheney gang.
well, you better get back to living in fear. some things are worth fighting for and sacrificing for, but obviously you guys don't know that and it seems like you will never learn.
wawawa.
Let them try to put a MILLION protestors in a cage and see how far they get. Ever been in front of one million angry protestors? Nothing to do but back away. KNOW YOUR POWER!
This is why protest in the US is pretty much a hollow jest-ure. We are a society trained from day one to color within the lines in all aspects of our lives and most 'protesters' will stay in their little 'protest box', but only after getting proper protest 'permits'
And we wonder why we are in deep shit here
Start throwing some bricks, people
heav y runner July 1st, 2008 3:57 pm
Yes but don't expect them to do it because it will likely be an embarrassment. How do Democrats that voted to fund the war respond to the anti-war protesters? Unless a judge intervenes the protesters will be kept as far away as possible.
Not a dimes worth of difference between them.
tailcap, I see what you are saying. It would play to Barack Obama's advantage to have the anti war demonstrators treated as if he was their leader because the overwhelming majority of American voters recognize the illegality and tragedy of George W. Bush's war.
The Democrats need to show courage and leadership on this and demand that people are afforded their 1st amendment rights in Denver.
heav y runner July 1st, 2008 3:52 pm
"St. Paul might be the better place for a big confrontation, however, because it is the Republican candidate who is calling for a 100 year occupation of Iraq."
Yes, 100 yrs with Democratic support and funding.
Why on Earth the anti-war Democrats want anti-war protesters to be almost a quarter of a mile and out of ear-shot is puzzling. Perhaps a Democratic Party supporter can explain that to me.
The famous demonstrations in Chicago which were broken up by the police brutality of the Chicago "pigs" were attacked because they organizers of the marches argued that we had a 1st Amendment right to march to the Chicago Amphitheater, where the '68 Democratic Convention was being held.
Abbie Hoffman, Bobby Seale, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden and the other leaders of the demonstrations had filed actions in court to force Mayor Daley to grant permits for the protest marches to proceed. When the permits were not forthcoming, the leaders decided to take their chances with the courts later and led the demonstrations despite the threats of Mayor Daley. Then the pigs waded into the crowd and beat the hell out of anybody they could get their hands on. There were 3,000 demonstrators, 12,000 cops, 12,000 National Guard troops and 27,000 regular army.
I was there. I was 17 and probably looked 15, and I think that saved me a beating as the pigs were grabbing slightly older people all around me and beating them bloody. This was a glaring contrast to the lessons we had studied in High School Civics Class the previous semester.
It was at that time, 40 years ago, that I understood that Power respected the Constitution only when they felt like it.
My point with this when I started was to say that we need to have courage in Denver to demand our 1st amendment rights. We need to do what we did in Boston in '04, and that is to largely ignore the "official" protest area. The entire United States, by virtue of the 1st amendment, is a protest area, and we have to put our bodies on the line to reclaim that right.
St. Paul might be the better place for a big confrontation, however, because it is the Republican candidate who is calling for a 100 year occupation of Iraq.
Our First Amendment is in no way threatened. Another clear reason to ban an individual's rights to firearms.
We wouldn't want Barack Obama and his costumed sheeple to be confronted by people who desire change, now, would we?
protests and mass demonstrations must be having some effect, else why the frenzy to minimize them?
and the more people who participate, then see themselves become non-news, the more credibility lost by the corporate media.
"Sequestering of Dissent" is a new police / management speciality. The goal is to keep a protesters split up on various side streets and out of public sight. It has been tested and perfected in New York in every protest in recent years. When combined with non-reportage in the press, it is effective in making protests invisible.
It can't work if there are hundreds of thousands in the streets.
thank you blueapples26...THANK YOU!...nothing say's..."our rights are being..more..than just violated.." like the actual words of the constitution...it is SO clear...could it be..ANY CLEARER?...
Penned in like ..wll..the PRISONERS that they consider us to be...does this seem like the America you thought it was?
The other night..I had an..existential moment..fancy concept..but that is what it was..a "Sartre's Doorknob" moment(as in...'oh my gawd..what IS this thing..ughhhh!')...regarding 'THE WAR ON TERROR'..I suddenly..REALLY SAW..that..In PUBLIC..but in GENEAL AS WELL..YOU CANNOT COMMENT ON THIS "WAR"...YOU CANNOT MAKE NEGATIVE COMMENTS, YOU CANNOT QUESTION THE WAR ON TERROR...THATW E ARE ALL BEING MADE.."AFRAID" for chrissakes..to make comments on the "W.O.T>" in PUBLIC PLACES..DO YOU NOT FEEL..SLEIGHTLY.."PARANOID" IF YOU THINK SOMEONE MIGHT "HEAR" YOU WHILE YOU ARE DEBATING OR CONDEMNING THE "wAR ON TERROR"?..TO DO SO..IS ALMOST..AT THIS POINT..A CRIME...IT IS USED AGAINST PEOPLE...IT IS ALMOST TO THE POINT OF BEING STRONG ENOUGH TO BE HELD AGAINST YOU IN COURT...WE ARE TO THAT POINT..
This "Oh Shit" moment..really put the .."fear" into me..I thought I was..completely "familiar" with the reality..but to see it..in a .."Heightend" way..was very...INSTRUCTIVE...this is really happening!...OH SHIT!
It really is HAPPENING..it really is olks..This aint "the 60's"..the 60's have NOTHING on what's going down now...for one thing the invasions of privacy were...like stone tools 40 years ago..so the .."ability" to resist was FAR EASIER..and FAR MORE...."DOABLE"...not any more..
I ask you all..to try to put yourselves..if you have not already...or even if you THINK you have..to put yourselves into the.."trance" the "REALL SEE IT CLEARLY" mode..and THEN look at what is going on..it is...TERRIFYING.TRULY..TERRIFYING..FOR THIS IS REAL..IT IS REAL..IT IS REAL..IT IS REAL!
And WHY?..why are "they" doing this..?? it is not going to be "GOOD" for the economy..we are NOT THE CHINESE..we will NOT be...PRISONER/CONSUMERS..hell..we are not even the Britih...who represent the first..TRUE..western Fascist nation...those people have..NO privacy..and NO rights..hell..you CAN'T EVEN KISS YOUR OWN CHILDREN IN PUBLIC..NEW LAW IN THE U.K.!...NO CHILD UNDER 16 CAN BE HUGGED, KISSED OR SHOWN AFFECTION IN A PUBLIC PLACE..EVEN BY THEIR OWN PARENTS..
Yeah.."England"...FUCKED!
RESIST PEOPLE..RESIST..REBEL..BASICALLY..TAX PROTEST...IS THE ONLY FORM OF "REGRESS OF GRIEVENCES" THAT WE STILL HAVE LEFT TO US...MONEY IS ALL THEY UNDERSTAND...AND ALL THEY CAR ABOUT..SO USE IT..USE IT..USE IT..BEFORE IT IS..COMPLETELY...TOO LATE..
And that day..is coming FAST!
One last thing:
The DNC in Dnever..could be..THE NEXT FALSE FLAG "EVENT"..Both McSame's people..AND now LEIBERMAN ALSO..have made statements DIRECTLY PROCLAIMING THE "BOOST" TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IF A "TERRORIST ATTACK" WERE TO HAPPEN BEFORE THE "ELECTION"..So..get ready...
It really is happening people..it really is..this time it AINT PARANOIA...this i being done..the plan is no longer just a "plan" it is an "Action Item" and is in process today..right now..at this very..moment..so..WAKE UP! and STOP PAYING FOR IT!
IT IS BETTER TO DIE ON YOUR FEET, THAN TO LIVE ON YOUR KNEES...
Isn't this sequestering of dissent a Bush tactic? It seems that corruption in American/Washington politics knows no party affiliation. This is what the new "bipartisanship" in Washington means.
the rage keeps growing
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the exercise thereof: or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press: or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. funny I don't see the words "protest zones" anywhere in the above 1st amendment. The fascists at the DNC must be working off a neo-constitution which doesn't included any of the amendments from the original scratch. Linear progress at its best.