Up in smoke. That’s where the U.S. Supreme Court has sent the hopes of a Chicago group that sought to hold a rally in Grant Park against marijuana laws.
The Windy City Hemp Development Board tried in 1997 to stage the rally in the park to promote the legalization of marijuana. The Park District turned down the permit application, citing alcohol use and other violations by some protesters at previous rallies. So the group sued, arguing that it’s constitutional right to free speech had been violated.
The Chicago-based 7th Circuit U. S. Court of Appeals found 2-1 last March that the city’s ordinance was not “a form of censorship,” as the hemp group contended. The organization appealed to the Supreme Court.
The high court unanimously rejected the 1st Amendment argument of the group. The park district’s ordinance does not restrict free speech, it enhances “the good order upon which civil liberties ultimately depend,” wrote Justice Antonin Scalia.
Indeed, there seemed to be no evidence that the government was repressing the content of the organization’s message. The group, in fact, has been able to hold other public rallies in the parks since 1997.
The park district rules, which require groups that seek to stage rallies attended by more than 50 people to prove they have insurance to cover potential damage, apply equally to the “picnicker and soccer player, no less than the political activist or parade marshal,” Scalia wrote.
That’s a crucial distinction. In its effort to maintain order, government must always insure that no particular applicant or point of view is unfairly favored or penalized by the application process. The district’s guidelines apply to all large gatherings in public parks and regulate only the time, place and manner of the gatherings, not the subject matter that is expressed.
The high court has made a sensible accommodation to public order without infringing on free speech. The permit criteria may be mildly inconvenient, but they are reasonable, and as long as they are applied equitably, free speech will not be infringed.
