Judge approves deal on protests in Chicago's Federal Plaza
By The Associated Press
10.11.02
CHICAGO — A judge gave preliminary approval Oct. 8 to an out-of-court settlement that would bar the government from restricting protests in Chicago's downtown Federal Plaza to one group at a time.
Several groups can demonstrate at once in the area across the street from Chicago's federal courthouse under the agreement between the American Civil Liberties Union and the federal General Services Administration.
"Having the space across the street open is important to the Constitution, which did not die along with many others on Sept. 11," U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo said in approving the agreement.
The ACLU sued in April 2001, saying the government had unreasonably barred some groups from demonstrating in the plaza when permits had been issued to others.
All protests in the plaza were barred after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and the ACLU then amended its lawsuit in an effort to force the General Services Administration to reopen the plaza for demonstrations.
The order closing the plaza was lifted in March. Since then, demonstrations have been held frequently by a wide array of organizations.
"We believe the pressure of this lawsuit was a factor that contributed to the reopening of the plaza," ACLU attorney Adam Schwartz said.
After the plaza reopened, the ACLU again focused on forcing the government to allow multiple groups to use it for their demonstrations.
Under the agreement, even groups that oppose each other on volatile political issues must be allowed to share the plaza. The government is responsible for seeing to it that order is maintained.
But the government will not be required to allow multiple demonstrations simultaneously if that would mean exceeding the plaza's capacity. No specific number of persons has so far been set as capacity.