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05 June 2004
Save
the Date! Eric Zorn The
Commitment to Justice Award
will be presented to Roslyn C. Lieb July
15, 2004 Reception
at 11:30 a.m. Council members and contributors to Chicago Appleseed will be receiving an invitation soon. For more information, please contact Malcolm Rich at 312-988-6552 or malcolmrich@chicagoappleseed.org A Report on the Forum Sponsored by the Chicago Council of Lawyers and the Chicago Appleseed Fund For Justice Almost a year ago, about 10,000 antiwar demonstrators shut down Lake Shore Drive during a protest that led to more than 500 arrests and a lawsuit charging Chicago police with using excessive force. The upcoming anniversary of that March 20, 2003 event sparked debate Wednesday at a Chicago Council of Lawyers forum discussing the future of protest in the city. Adam Schwartz, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union in Illinois, said Chicago officials have supported civil rights in some cases, but there is room for improvement. One area of concern is the police practice of videotaping public demonstrations. "Sometimes people at demonstrations engage in white-hot rhetoric," he said. "In these cases, it might be proper to [videotape]... But there must be a reasonable threshold for conducting investigations." Schwartz said without a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, it isn't appropriate for police to videotape demonstrations. The taping could dissuade potential protestors from participating, he said. But Lawrence E. Rosenthal, deputy corporation counsel for the City of Chicago, said if public protests can be taped by the media, observers and the participants, they should not be off-limits to police cameras. He said taping the activity documents any misconduct that may occur, as well as perhaps deterring wrongdoing on the part of both protestors and police. Because the police don't know in advance which protests will stay under control and which ones won't, they must be prepared for either situation, Rosenthal said. "Protests can turn from peaceful and protected to violent and unprotected very quickly," he added. Similarly, Rosenthal said gathering intelligence information about activist groups helps police strike the proper balance between protecting First Amendment rights and ensuring peace. "Without intelligence, it becomes impossible for police to have an appropriately calibrated response," he said. One method of gathering intelligence used by Chicago police is sending plainclothes officers to activist groups' public meetings to observe what is being said and planned. Schwartz called those tactics threatening. "The mere attendance by police officers at meetings of this nature potentially does become intimidating," he said. Schwartz said there are better ways for police to maintain order and ensure public safety. "There is a dichotomy between understanding the intelligence you have and getting more intelligence," he said. "A growing haystack doesn't seem like the best method." But Rosenthal said police are operating under a mandate from Chicago residents. "Our constituents demand law enforcement to engage in every intelligence gathering technique with legitimate purposes [that is] consistent with the First Amendment," he said. "That's all the Chicago Police Department has done." The group's request for a staging area at the heavily trafficked intersection of Michigan Avenue and Pearson Street was denied. Instead, the protestors were offered a staging area at Washington Square Park and a march down Clark Street to the federal plaza.
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