Activist groups sue city, alleging denial of march permits during DNC violates free speech

Multiple activist groups have sued the city of Chicago, alleging the denial of permits seeking to protest at the Democratic National Convention later this summer is unconstitutional and suppresses free speech.

The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court Friday by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Anti-War Coalition, Students for a Democratic Society at UIC and the United States Palestinian Community Network. The plaintiffs applied for parade permits with the intention of leading large-scale protests during the convention Aug. 19-22.

Each application was denied and alternate routes were suggested, but the lawsuit alleges those alternatives weren't adequate. The suit includes two counts of violating the First Amendment through the denial of the parade permits.

The first alternate offered was a route along Columbus Drive, miles away from the United Center, where delegates are set to gather for the high-profile convention. Plaintiffs rejected that suggestion and filed a lawsuit in federal court, also accusing the city of violating free speech rights.

The second alternate route involved smaller city side streets, Hermitage and Maypole avenues, that are near the United Center but not large enough to accommodate the "tens of thousands" of protesters expected, the complaint says.

"With the size of the marches, forcing the marchers onto smaller streets will almost certainly result in log jams, denying marchers the ability to march by the UC and leading to potential confrontations with the police," the complaint reads.

Attorney for the plaintiffs Chris Williams said getting a route closer to the United Center is a win in that the marches will be within "sight and sound" of the delegates, but the new proposed route raises other concerns, including potential clashes with police and a bottleneck issue on smaller streets. He said Chicago police's preparations for mass arrests are especially concerning.

"That's why we want to get this all worked out before there's a march and we want to do it in a way that's both lawful and pragmatic," he said. "Trying to turn a march of 40- to 50,000 people down side streets is a recipe for chaos."

The groups appealed the denials for their respective applications, which were all upheld last week. At one of the appeal hearings, Williams volleyed with city attorney Christopher Dionne about the city's denial, leading to a tense back-and-forth before Judge Dennis M. Fleming. Williams argued that the alternate route wouldn't accommodate the size of the group while Dionne raised safety concerns along the applicants' original route. Fleming upheld the city's denial after the hearing.

By denying the permit applications and not working with the applicants to come up with a route that works for both parties, the city "unconstitutionally interfered with Plaintiffs and their respective members’ right to engage in political speech and assemble in a public forum," the lawsuit reads.

It also argues that the city's ordinance relating to parade applications is "facially unconstitutional" and restrictive, and the city's interpretation of the ordinance also violates the Constitution. The ordinance prohibits groups from applying for a permit if multiple groups seeking permits "have even a single member in common" or a group files multiple applications for permits, even if the events are to take place on different days.

The lawsuit asks Judge Andrea Wood to declare the city has violated the First Amendment and acted outside of the plaintiffs' constitutional rights and either approve the original parade applications or work with the plaintiffs to choose a new route.

The city of Chicago didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.