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Federal judge orders Pittsburgh to grant permit for G-20 'tent city' demonstration

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] A judge in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania ruled Thursday that the City of Pittsburgh must allow a tent city protest during next week's Group of 20 (G-20) summit, but that it could deny permits to two other groups. In response to a lawsuit brought last week by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), Judge Gary Lancaster ruled that the city must issue a permit to CodePink to set up a tent city in Point State Park in the days before the summit. Lancaster also ruled that the city could deny permits to the Thomas Merton Center to hold a march through downtown and rally on a bridge and to other groups wishing to camp overnight in Schenley Park. CCR Vice President and University of Pittsburgh School of Law professor Jules Lobel said: We regret the judge did not see eye-to-eye with us in allowing the groups to camp and rally. ... It is a still a great victory, however, that CodePink and Three Rivers Climate Convergence will be able to erect a symbolic tent city in the main park in downtown Pittsburgh and be heard during the G-20.Since the suit was filed, the city granted permits to three of the original plaintiffs - the G6 Billion group and Bail Out the People, seeking to hold marches, and a group of artists seeking to use a city park.Earlier this week, the Pittsburgh City Council passed an ordinance in anticipation G-20 summit that will allow police to cite people in possession of certain items if they intend to use them unlawfully. The temporary ordinance, passed in anticipation of protests at the summit scheduled for September 24 and 25, expires at the end of the month. It prohibits the possession of tools or other items such as handcuffs, padlocks, and pipes with an intent to use those items to block access to streets, sidewalks, and public buildings or to defeat crowd control orders. A proposal to ban masks and hoods during the summit was voted down by the City Council last week.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on September 17, 2009 (boomark / email).