Federal judge to rule Thursday on ACLU’s G-20 protest suit against Pittsburgh, Secret Service

Fed judge to rule Thursday on G-20 protest suit

PITTSBURGH — A federal judge will rule Thursday on a lawsuit brought by the ACLU on protest plans by three groups during next week’s Group of 20 economic summit.

The judge is expected to determine what route a protest group can take for a march and rally, and whether two groups can use parks for their protests.

The Thomas Merton Center, an anti-war and social justice group, wants to march from near the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University to the city-county building and then near the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the summit’s location.

Pete Shell of the Merton Center said the group wants to end with a rally on a bridge crossing the Allegheny River, but the city says it would be unsafe to have an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 people there.

Instead, the city offered a route that would cross the bridge and put the protesters either directly across the river from the convention center, or bring them back across another bridge to a parking lot near it. Security perimeters preclude the march from taking a direct route to the lot.

Shell and attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union said the cross-river spot would be unsafe because it’s located on a narrow recreation path close to the river. And the alternatives would be too far for many people to march.

U.S. District Judge Gary Lancaster must also decide whether the anti-war group Code Pink can set up a symbolic tent city from Sunday evening until Tuesday evening. The group wants to leave the tents standing, but not stay overnight.

Francine Porter of Code Pink says the tents would symbolize women and children made refugees of war.

City officials and attorneys said tents for a scheduled race early Sunday must be taken down, and inclement weather could push the tear-down into Monday. Officials don’t want to break down one set while Code Pink sets up.

The city offered the park for Tuesday, but Porter said one day wouldn’t be enough time to get its message across.

Finally, Three Rivers Climate Convergence wants a camping permit for a “sustainability festival” and environmental programs for the week in Schenley Park, near the universities.

The city maintains camping generally isn’t allowed in parks. But the ACLU said the city has previously allowed camping.

The ACLU also argued that the city has been uneven in granting permits, claiming it approved a large rally in Point State Park for Wednesday organized by state Sen. Jim Ferlo, while dragging its heels on permits by Code Pink and others. The Steelworkers Union and the Alliance for Climate Protection, founded by former vice president Al Gore, are part of the Ferlo rally.

“If the First Amendment stands for anything, it stands for the fact that everybody enjoys those rights, not just the people with political influence and power,” said Witold Walczak, the ACLU’s legal director in Pennsylvania.

Michael Kennedy, a city attorney, said the city has been acting appropriately.