Update: In response to the ACLU and Rick Stewart, the City of Marion has agreed to cease enforcement of its unconstitutional free speech ordinance while it amends it.
In September 2016, Rick Stewart was doing what he thought was his First Amendment right to do: Standing in a pedestrian area in Marion, Iowa, and holding a political sign in support of a presidential candidate.
But City of Marion police stopped him and told him that he would need to have a special permit with 72-hour notice—just to stand on a sidewalk and hold a political sign. So Mr. Stewart stopped.
Correctly believing his First Amendment rights had been violated, Mr. Stewart afterwards approached the ACLU of Iowa. "The First Amendment protects all of us, and I feel that it is my responsibility to vigorously defend it, not just for myself, but for my children and grandchildren."
The First Amendment does indeed protect the rights of picketers on public sidewalks without a permit, so long as picketing is done in a non-disruptive fashion so that pedestrians can pass by and any entrances to buildings are not blocked.
In Mr. Stewart's case, there were only three picketers present, and they were not interfering with anyone else's use of the pedestrian areas. They even offered to move to a different sidewalk if the officer preferred, but the officer instead reiterated that unless they had a permit, they could not picket. That violated their free speech rights.
The ACLU of Iowa has sent a legal demand letter to the City of Marion, Iowa, on behalf of Mr. Stewart, the first step in getting the City of Marion to changing and enforcing its unconstitutional ordinance.
Click here for a Cedar Rapids Gazette column on this unconstitutional ordinance.
