Judge scraps Cleveland’s protest rules for event

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

A federal judge Thursday ruled that Cleveland’s regulations governing protests and marches during next month’s Republican National Convention infringe on the right of free expression, and he ordered the city and a civil-rights organization to begin negotiating new rules.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio sued the city on behalf of two groups planning events – Citizens For Trump and left-leaning Organize Ohio – and an advocacy group for the homeless.

The lawsuit claimed that the route designated for protest marches would largely be on a bridge and would be unobserved, and that hours when marches could be scheduled were restricted to times when convention delegates would not be at Quicken Loans Arena, the convention venue.

U.S. District Judge James Gwin agreed with the ACLU’s claim. He also ruled that the city’s designation of a convention “event zone” covering nearly the entire downtown and prohibiting everyday items such as backpacks, bottles, cans and umbrellas was unconstitutional and too broad.

Cleveland previously rejected applications submitted by Citizens For Trump and Organize Ohio to conduct rallies and marches July 18, the first day of the four-day convention, outside the area where the city said they could have such events.