Two organizations have reached a settlement with Harrisburg in a lawsuit that sued the city for what they called excessive conditions for hosting a climate change demonstration in June.
The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the Better Path Coalition, focuses on numerous demands the City of Harrisburg required before it would issue permits for the summer event. The event is scheduled from June 11-13 at the Riverfront Park and includes a march from the park to the state capitol.
The interim settlement lifts most of the city’s conditions for the coalitions’ Climate Convergence event, including reimbursement for lost parking fees during the organization’s planned march, costs of police presence at the march, an assumption of liability for the event and that the coalition notify local businesses and residents of its plans.
The group identified these and more as “standard-less prior restraint to core political speech in traditional public forums” that gives City Hall “unbridled discretion” to decide who gets to use public spaces and on what terms in its original filing.
Many requirements on the permit applications themselves were beyond the capability of a low-budget organization, the group said.
Some issues in the lawsuit remain unsolved, however. The Better Path Coalition has set aside $1,186 to cover some of the city’s fees and to purchase insurance for the festival as lawyers discuss the constitutionality of the requirements.
The City of Harrisburg will also begin revising its parks use ordinances “to include well-defined, content-neutral and narrowly-tailored provisions consistent with applicable First Amendment law(,)” the settlement said.
“We are grateful that city officials and their legal team recognized this fundamental value and agreed to work with us and our clients toward a reasonable solution,” Stephen Loney, a lawyer representing the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said. “The people must have the ability to carry their message to the commonwealth’s elected officials.”
The Pennsylvania Climate Convergence will feature a festival of arts, music, theater, and talks on June 11, followed by a march on June 12, and a “day of action” at the state capitol on June 13.
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