This ad will close in 15 seconds

From : dj6ual
Added: Sep 12, 2009
Groups planning to protest the G-20 Summit and the American Civil Liberties Union are filing suit in federal court against city of Pittsburgh and the Secret Service, saying the two are denying their first amendment rights to demonstrate. The Thomas Merton Center alleges the city is denying a planned Sept. 25 march from Oakland to downtown any reasonable access to be within "sight and sound" of the G-20 summit at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, as required by court precedent. Channel 4 Action News' Bob Mayo reported the suit alleges the defendants "have unduly restricted or failed to recognize their right to peaceably demonstrate in traditional public forums during the G-20 summit." "Where in downtown demonstrators can go, and we're starting to think that they're shutting off all of downtown to demonstrators," said Vic Walczak of the ACLU. Among the end-points for the G-20 protest march vetoed by the Secret Service, according to the ACLU are at Fort Duquesne Boulevard between Sixth and Seventh streets and on Liberty Avenue between 10th and Grant streets. The city has proposed two locations that city leaders said meet the legal standard the protesters are looking for. The Secret Service would allow used of a strip district parking lot on Smallman Street, and the city is willing to pay $28,000 to lease the spot for four days for demonstrators. But that location would require marchers to cross the Allegheny by bridge, walk down river on the north side, cross back via the 16th Street Bridge and then head back toward town. A Thomas Merton Center spokesman told Channel 4 Action News' Bob Mayo the city also suggested ending the march on the North Shore Walking Trail across the river from the Convention Center. Organizers argue that is not within a reasonable distance from the summit. "Why wouldn't they allow people to march down what's going to be a deserted street for approximately a half hour? That's all," said Jules Lobel, an attorney for the protesters. Among the other groups joining in the lawsuit are Code Pink and Three Rivers Climate Convergence. The groups want permits to gather in Point State Park and to be able to camp there overnight. The suit points out Sen.Jim Ferlo's G-20 event is getting the park, and the city has allowed other groups to camp in its parks before. "If you're politically influential and you've got a lot of money and you can have fancy bands and you've got the support of the party machinery, you can get a permit," Walczak said. Despite Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's assurances that most of the 15 protest permits are conditionally approved, the plaintiffs say the city is stalling and has actually only issued two. With the summit just two weeks away, protest organizers are hoping for a quick resolution before a federal judge on their request. At a hearing on Friday afternoon before Judge Gary Lancaster, the plaintiffs asked the court to order an expedited discovery and a hearing next week. http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/g20/20838536/detail.html Recommended Sites: Project Over-Watch Http://www.youtube.com/SimpleDan76 InfoWars http://www.infowars.com Prison Planet http://www.prisonplanet.com The Alex Jones Channel http://www.youtube.com/TheAlexJonesChannel
Category : Nonprofit

Video Categories:

Also Try: