A federal judge has ruled she will not force City Hall to widen and lengthen the route for Democratic National Convention protesters near the United Center, writing the city has a “significant government interest” in controlling the expected crowds for safety and security.
In her 24-page decision, U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood wrote the latest challenges to the alternate parade route proposed by the city “boil down to a complaint” that City Hall hasn’t offered “the exact route plaintiffs desire,” even though that route “allows them to speak near their intended audience.”
“This falls well short of a First Amendment violation,” Wood wrote. “As such, the alternative parade route represents an adequate alternative channel of communication.”
The ruling, which comes just days before the convention begins, is part of an ongoing lawsuit contending the city of Chicago was violating protesters’ First Amendment rights by proposing an initial route in Grant Park that was far from “within sight and sound” of the convention center.
Last month, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration proposed an amended route calling for protesters to assemble in Union Park on the Near West Side before marching west along Washington Boulevard to Hermitage Avenue, then past a small park north of the United Center. The route then turns east on Lake Street back to Union Park.
The march’s organizers celebrated the new route but vowed to keep fighting for a wider, longer path to the convention center, including being allowed to stay on Washington Boulevard instead of being diverted to smaller side streets. Other sticking points continue to be where and when the groups involved will be able to stage a rally near the United Center.
“It’s a win. But it’s not the win,” Hatem Abudayyeh, executive director of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, one of the plaintiff groups, told the Tribune. “Organizing works. You put a little pressure on the powers that be and you can move them.”
In court last week, however, the two sides were still at odds, with plaintiffs’ attorney Chris Williams telling the judge they were “blindsided” by the possibility that they might not be able to hold speeches in a park two blocks north of the United Center.
Williams vowed to keep fighting for a plan for marches and speeches he argued would be safer than what the city has proposed and better align with his clients’ First Amendment rights.
“The way the city is doing this is take-it-or-leave-it, ‘you do what we say,’” Williams told Wood at the hearing on Aug. 5. “It’s not enough to say, ‘You have a route, you’re going to live with it.’ You’re going to have chaos.”
In her ruling Monday, Wood said “the need to maintain an accessible route to and from the United Center in case of emergency constitutes a separate significant governmental interest” that is not trumped by any free speech issues.
The judge also noted the potential for danger if the anticipated crowds — between 20,000 and 25,000 people, according to estimates from the plaintiffs — were allowed to continue to march along Washington Boulevard, where fencing will mark the security perimeter set up by the U.S. Secret Service.
“Simply put, allowing a crowd of that size (or even a smaller one) to march directly alongside an unyielding barrier—no matter how much of the street is available for pedestrian use—poses an obvious risk of injury,” she said.
The plaintiffs still have the opportunity to appeal the ruling, but with the convention just days away it’s unclear if anything could be resolved in time.
At a status hearing in the case on Tuesday, an attorney for the city told the judge they plan on responding Wednesday to separate permit applications to hold rallies in Union Park and a nearby smaller park on Monday and Thursday of convention week. The plaintiffs want to set up a stage, sound equipment and portable restrooms on those dates.
“We envision all of these open issues being resolved and communicated to plaintiffs by tomorrow,” said Andrew Worseck, an attorney with the Law Department.
Williams, who appeared via telephone due to an illness, said the city had been dragging its feet on the requests, which have been pending for nine months, and warned it would violate his clients’ due process rights “if they say nothing and then deny it at the last minute” because of issues including the rental of equipment.
“They need to contract on those things and nobody is going to do it without permits,” Williams said. “This isn’t ‘find out Monday morning.’ They need an answer.”
Wood set another status hearing in the case for Thursday. “There is just no more time to play around with here,” she said.
Meanwhile, at a DNC-related news conference Tuesday morning, Chicago police superintendent Larry Snelling was asked about protesters’ space concerns and the potential for demonstrators to spill over outside the designated marching route. Snelling said police know they have to prepare for “fluid” situations.
“Things are ever-evolving, and as they evolve we make necessary adjustments to accommodate that,” Snelling told reporters.
“We know what we didn’t want to do is tie up additional resources by prolonging a protest of that nature, but we will make sure … as a police department that people who are protesting and exercising their First Amendment rights get the opportunity to do that,” Snelling said. “We will protect them and we will protect the neighborhoods.”
Snelling said the department is in communication with protest organizers “all the time,” and said protesters will only be subject to arrest if they “act violently or commit crimes.”
Snelling, along with representatives of the Secret Service, the mayor’s office and the city Office of Emergency Management and Communications, repeatedly told reporters that the city is prepared and the DNC will be safe.
The OEMC has launched a text notification service that Chicagoans can opt into for convention-related updates by texting “DNC” to 226787.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
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