Demonstrators sue over tight inaugural security rules

David Ho / AP 16jan01

[ Judge questions government about tough inaugural security ]
[ Judge will rule on challenge to inaugural security ]

Robert Lyon (left) and Craig Culp of Greenpeace hung a sign on the Interior building to protest Gale Norton's nomination as interior secretary.

WASHINGTON -- Demonstrators went to court Tuesday to roll back tough Inaugural Day security plans they said are ``constitutionally invalid,'' designed to prevent protesters from embarrassing President-elect Bush.

The International Action Center and the Justice Action Movement, both coalitions of groups planning to demonstrate at Saturday's inauguration, filed a suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia demanding details about the security plans and asking that certain regulations be declared unconstitutional.

``We have for weeks sought clarification from law enforcement authorities as to exactly what restrictions and regulations are in place so that demonstrators may conform their conduct so that they are not going to be suddenly arrested for things that they thought were legal,'' said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, a lawyer with the Partnership for Civil Justice.

With the inauguration near, the demonstrators asked the court to expedite the lawsuit against the heads of the Secret Service, the National Park Service and the District of Columbia police department.

``If they had given us answers it might have made things easier for everyone, but the failure to give answers indicates that they are not seeking to have lawful and orderly protests, they're simply trying to obstruct it,'' Verheyden-Hilliard said.

Secret Service spokesman Jim Mackin said he was aware of the lawsuit but had no specific comment.

The park service and attorneys representing the district's police didn't immediately return calls seeking comment.

For the first time at an inauguration, police and Secret Service checkpoints will be erected along the inaugural parade route for members of the public to pass through for searches of their bags, federal and local police agencies said last week.

In their lawsuit, the activists charge the purpose of the checkpoints is not to protect Bush or the public but to filter out those who want to protest and potentially embarrass the new president.

They said several federal and local regulations about demonstrations should be eliminated for lack of specificity.

``The security set up by the government is constitutionally invalid because it's vague,'' said Brian Becker, co-founder of the action center. ``It gives the police unfettered discretion to actually inhibit and block demonstrators when they come, as is their right.''

Becker's group has permits to protest at three locations on or near the parade route.

Police have said security will be the tightest in decades because they are expecting the largest turnout of inaugural protesters since President Nixon's swearing-in ceremony in 1973. Tens of thousands marched against the Vietnam War then.

This year, hundreds of different groups plan to protest causes ranging from the environment to the death penalty. They will be joined by others angered by Bush's contested election.

Organizers say the combined turnout may exceed 10,000. They insist their plans are peaceful and any violence will be the fault of police.

Judge questions government about tough inaugural security

David Ho / AP 18jan01

WASHINGTON -- Tensions between inaugural protesters and police rose in the courtroom and on the streets Thursday. A federal judge questioned government security plans and police arrested three demonstrators for scaling the Interior Department headquarters with a huge anti-Bush banner.

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler questioned government attorneys about 10 police and Secret Service checkpoints to be set up along the route for Saturday's parade on Pennsylvania Avenue. In an inaugural first, parade-goers will have to submit to bag -- and, in some cases, body -- searches.

The demonstrators want the judge to order law enforcement agencies to revise their plans, contending that checkpoints are intended to filter out protesters from Bush supporters.

Kessler, who said she has attended inaugural parades, said she had trouble visualizing how the security would operate without creating bottlenecks on the ``nation's avenue.'' The government lawyers said as many as 750,000 people may attend the day's events and have to pass through the checkpoints.

``That's going to make a whole lot of people, it seems to me, awfully mad,'' Kessler said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Lawrence said the security applied to everyone and protesters would not be targeted.

Under questioning, Lawrence presented more security details, which protesters charge have been deliberately withheld to make it difficult for them to plan demonstrations and legal challenges.

Officers at checkpoints, half a block back from Pennsylvania Avenue, will inspect bags, coolers and even large coats for weapons or objects that could be used as weapons, he said.

``It's not to keep people out, it's meant to keep implements out,'' Lawrence said. ``If you have a backpack full of bricks, those bricks aren't going to be allowed in.''

While most people will not be frisked, officers may do so if they have a particular suspicion -- the outline of a gun in a jacket pocket, for example, Lawrence said.

Kessler said she planned to rule Friday.

Earlier, federal police arrested three Greenpeace-USA activists, two of whom used ropes and pulleys to lower themselves outside the third floor of the Interior Department's headquarters, unfurling a red-white-and- blue banner that read, ``Bush and Norton: Our Land, Not Oil Land!''

The protest came on the opening day of confirmation hearings for Interior Secretary-designate Gale Norton, who activists say may allow energy exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

One of the groups suing, the New York-based International Action Center, is complaining that one of their permitted demonstration locations is filled by huge bleachers put up for the Presidential Inaugural Committee's ticketed guests.

Kessler was considering which group has priority and struggling to understand the National Park Service's permit process. ``The whole procedure is -- I'm trying to come up with a polite word -- bizarre.''

The demonstrators also asked Kessler to strike several federal regulations regarding protests and public gatherings because they were subject to too much interpretation by authorities.

Kessler noted that an older version of one of the current regulations, a District of Columbia rule requiring that people have written permission from the chief of police to make speeches in public, had already been declared unconstitutional in 1976 by another judge.

Judge will rule on challenge to inaugural security

David Ho / AP 19jan01

WASHINGTON -- Inaugural demonstrators looking for a last-minute reprieve from tough government security plans are asking a federal judge to roll back restrictions such as checkpoints on the Pennsylvania Avenue parade route, which they say are designed to keep them and their signs out of sight.

The checkpoints, an inaugural first, will require parade-goers to submit to bag -- and, in some cases, body -- searches.

Police and protesters are predicting the largest inaugural demonstrator presence since tens of thousands marched against the Vietnam War in 1973. Authorities are concerned because many of the likely demonstrators participated in recent protests that resulted in violence and hundreds of arrests.

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler bombarded government attorneys with questions about the checkpoints Thursday. She said she would rule Friday morning.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Lawrence said as many as 750,000 people may attend the Saturday's inaugural events and have to pass through the 10 parade checkpoints. But Kessler, who said she has attended inaugural parades, said she had trouble visualizing how the security would operate without creating bottlenecks on the ``nation's avenue.''

``That's going to make a whole lot of people, it seems to me, awfully mad,'' the judge said.

Under questioning, Lawrence presented more security details, which protesters charge have been deliberately withheld to make it difficult for them to plan demonstrations and legal challenges.

Officers at checkpoints, half a block back from Pennsylvania Avenue, will inspect bags, coolers and even large coats for weapons or objects that could be used as weapons, he said.

``It's not to keep people out, it's meant to keep implements out,'' Lawrence said. ``If you have a backpack full of bricks, those bricks aren't going to be allowed in.''

While most people will not be frisked, officers may do so if they spot something suspicious -- the outline of a gun in a jacket pocket, for example, Lawrence said. He added that the security applied to everyone, and protesters would not be targeted.

For protest signs at the inaugural parade, Lawrence said demonstrators along the route would be bound by the rules used for the sidewalk outside the White House: Signs of certain sizes and materials are allowed, but sound equipment like speakers and props like puppets and statues -- anything that could be used as a weapon or conceal an explosive -- are banned.

One of the groups that sued, the New York-based International Action Center, complained that one of their permitted demonstration locations was filled by huge bleachers put up for the Presidential Inaugural Committee's ticketed guests.

Kessler, considering which group has priority, struggled to understand the National Park Service's convoluted permit process. It involved the park service granting itself a permit on behalf on the inaugural committee more than a year in advance of the inauguration, possibly violating its own policies.

``The whole procedure is -- I'm trying to come up with a polite word -- bizarre,'' she said.

If you have come to this page from an outside location click here to get back to mindfully.org