ACLU, reproductive rights groups sue Chicago over denial of DNC protest permit
CHICAGO (CBS) — A group of nine organizations teamed up with the American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday to file a lawsuit against the city of Chicago, after city officials denied their request to hold a protest march during the Democratic National Convention begins in August.
The groups had sought to march from the Water Tower to Grant Park, mostly along Michigan Avenue, to demand Democratic leaders take action to protect women's reproductive rights and to call for "comprehensive and inclusive healthcare policies that affirm the needs of trans & queer people."
"Pregnant people are suffering under inhumane abortion bans," said Anne Rumberger, an activist for Bodies Outside Unjust Laws, one of the groups behind the planned protests. "The Democratic Party must take immediate concrete steps to ensure access to abortion and protection of bodily autonomy for all. We have watched LGBTQ people denied basic rights and our reproductive freedom cruelly ripped away as our elected officials have done little to protect these rights."
In denying their request for a parade permit, the Chicago Department of Transportation argued their planned protest march would "substantially and unnecessarily interfere with traffic in the area" and that there would not be enough police officers or other city employees available to regulate traffic and ensure public safety.
Even after amending their application for a shorter march route along Michigan Avenue, the city denied their request for a permit.
Instead, the city suggested an alternative route for the protest march on Columbus Drive between Roosevelt and Jackson.
Organizers said the alternative route was not acceptable, as a march on Columbus Drive would not be visible from the Magnificent Mile and various downtown hotels where convention goers and international media would be staying during the convention.
"The city says it doesn't want chaos during the Democratic National Convention, but their actions – like the actions of [former Mayor] Richard J. Daley a generation ago – they're about preserving disorder," said Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws member Andy Thayer.
The groups' federal lawsuit, filed in Chicago on Thursday, seeks a court order declaring the denial of the protest permit unconstitutional, and granting them a permit to march on Aug. 18 "at a time and along a route that allows them to communicate their message to their intended audience of DNC delegates."