PITTSBURGH - Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania (ACLU-PA) filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on behalf of groups seeking to hold peaceful demonstrations in downtown Pittsburgh where the Group of 20 summit (G-20) will take place later this month. The complaint charges the U.S. Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the City of Pittsburgh and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources with violating the groups' constitutional rights to free speech.
The plaintiffs include: CODEPINK; Pittsburgh Women For Peace; 3 Rivers Climate Convergence; Thomas Merton Center; Pittsburgh Outdoor Artists; Bail Out The People and G-6 Billion. The complaint was filed after repeated efforts to negotiate with the city regarding the permits.
"The City is unjustified in denying permits to these peaceful protestors," said CCR Vice President Jules Lobel. "We hope the court will uphold and protect the core American values of free speech and the right to dissent."
"Despite working in good faith for weeks to resolve G-20 demonstration permits with the City of Pittsburgh and federal officials, demonstration organizers can wait no longer and will now pursue permit remedies in Federal Court," said ACLU-PA Legal Director Witold "Vic" Walczak.
"This is a struggle for our First Amendment rights," said Francine Porter, CODEPINK Pittsburgh Coordinator. "Refusing these permits takes away our right to educate the public about the G-20 agenda and how it relates to war, war funding and war's impact across the globe on mostly women and children."
"The G-20 is gathering in the midst of a worldwide economic crisis," said Molly Rush, co-founder of the Thomas Merton Center in Pittsburgh. "Unrestrained profit-making by financial institutions and the deregulation and privatization of public resources have led to disaster for the vast majority of the world's people. Yet the people lack a voice in the proceedings."
The complaint alleges violations of the Constitution based on the following actions by the defendants: 1) refusal to issue permits to demonstrators for the use of Point State Park during the week of the G-20; 2) failure to issue permits for First-Amendment-protected activities in Pittsburgh's downtown; 3) refusal to issue a permit for a march by the Thomas Merton Center within a reasonable distance from the Convention Center on one day during the summit; and 4) refusal to allow demonstrators permission to stay overnight in several Pittsburgh parks.
To read the full complaint, click here.
