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Posted January 21, 2002
Cities and the Right to Pop OffBy Jonathan Walters
The U.S. Supreme Court just handed cities a huge gift. Now it’s up to cities not to drop it.
The issue in Thomas v. Chicago Parks District was whether the city of Chicago was exercising prior restraint of free speech because of a 13-point checklist that demonstrators had to meet before they’d be permitted to gather and yell in city parks. Among the requirements: that groups of 50 or more prove they have insurance to cover any damage their rally might cause, and that the group not have a track record of leaving a mess in the wake of such get-togethers.
The Windy City Hemp Development Board challenged the city’s rules, as well as the length of time it can take to get a permit — up to 28 days — as violating their right of assembly and free speech.
In upholding Chicago’s criteria for issuing permits for all public gatherings, the high court has seemingly put a city’s right to control its property and its quality of life on the same level as an interest group’s right to demonstrate in a public park. The Supremes based that decision on their finding that city had a set of fixed and very clear standards that it applied evenly to all, regardless of the reason for the gathering or an applicant group’s viewpoint or message.
That’s a close call: The dope-smokers have a pretty good argument here. After all, it says in the U.S. Constitution that people have the right of assembly and free speech, not the right of assembly and free speech if they apply for a permit early enough and if they promise to pick up their garbage afterwards.
Still, the communitarian in me applauds the decision. Chicago has kept control over how its parks are used, and that’s good. The civil libertarian in me is a tad troubled, though. Cities everywhere now need to make very sure that protecting the grass in a park doesn’t take precedence over some group’s legitimate right to pop off in public. And cities especially need to avoid the temptation to muffle messages they don’t want to hear through the selective application of public-assembly permitting rules.
So score one for city livability. Cities now need to make very sure that their victory is not a setback for the U.S. Constitution.
Jonathan Walters is a Governing staff correspondent.
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The Receding Shock: the danger of creeping complacency (posted December 11, 2001)
Complete index of View columns
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