Jason Hoppin, twincities.com — St. Paul is facing two new lawsuits related to protest activity at September’s Republican National Convention.
Both suits were announced Monday, each claiming a designated protest area, which will house a large stage with amplified sound for the duration of the Sept. 1-4 event, is inadequate. The suits also ask a Ramsey County judge to force the city to spell out the rules under which protesters will be allowed to march.
“Basically, nobody knows what the rules are except the police,” said Chuck Samuelson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota. The organization also represented a group of protesters in federal court over a city-designated Sept. 1 protest route to the Xcel Energy Center, where John McCain will accept his party’s presidential nomination.
The ACLU is representing several plaintiffs in one case, including activist Coleen Rowley, who rose to prominence as an FBI whistleblower after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and a group called Impeach for Peace.
The National Lawyer’s Guild is representing a separate group in the second case, including the Welfare Rights Committee, Twin Cities Peace Campaign and Mick Kelly, a spokesman for the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War.
Kelly already has a suit against the city over what he claims was an unlawful detention by police for passing out leaflets outside the Xcel Energy Center during a speech by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama earlier this summer.
“What we’re trying to do with this lawsuit is open up more space on the streets and sidewalks for people to raise their voices against the war the Republicans are waging at home and abroad,” Kelly said.
But the city, which won a federal suit over the protest route, maintains it has gone the extra mile to accommodate protesters. A march planned for Sept. 1 — the day Vice President Dick Cheney and President Bush are expected to address the convention — is expected to draw 50,000 people, and a number of smaller marches are in the works.
“From the city’s perspective, we granted a permit that affords unprecedented access and accommodations for the protesters,” said St. Paul City Attorney John Choi. “This really is an attempt by the lawyers to get another bite at the apple.”
A protest area slated for the Democratic National Convention in Denver is smaller than the one planned in St. Paul and further away from the venue. While the St. Paul area is across the street from the Xcel Energy Center, the one in Denver is more than 700 feet away.
Protesters remain suspicious that the city will impose last-minute, onerous restrictions for the march, especially after a recent decision to revoke all permits for Hamm Plaza, located across Sixth Street from downtown St. Paul’s Landmark Center. St. Paul Parks and Recreation Director Bob Bierscheid said they were yanked because of a changing security plan.
The suits are being brought under the Minnesota Constitution, and Samuelson denied the ACLU and the National Lawyer’s Guild are trying to relitigate a case they lost in federal court.
“The federal Constitution is the floor,” Samuelson said. “No state … can give you less rights than the federal Constitution. All states, including Minnesota, give you more.”
Monday was the deadline to sign up for a designated speaking slot on the protest stage, but officials said there weren’t enough entries to fill the slots. Assignments were to be finalized today using a lottery system, but the deadline will likely be extended. There are 48 50-minute slots.
Kelly said the groups he is in touch with are not seeking a designated speaking slot.
“To my knowledge, they’re not. Groups that I’m aware of are not going to be signing up for a police-organized rally in the public viewing area,” Kelly said.
“The stage in the public viewing area is an attempt to make it seem as if the city’s interested in free speech,” he added. “In fact, it’s just a cover for the shabby way the city’s treated the protesters.”
The city takes strong exception. Choi repeated that a federal judge has already validated the city’s accommodations.
“Our position is, the Minnesota Constitution affords no additional protections than the U.S. Constitution,” he said.
Jason Hoppin can be reached at 651-292-1892.
impeach/evict……..