PITTSBURGH (CN) - Six groups say Pittsburgh, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Secret Service have denied them their constitutional right to "peacefully demonstrate in traditional public forums," by denying them permits to demonstrate at the G-20 Summit to be held here on Sept. 24 and 25.
The federal complaint claims that city and state officials deliberately delayed responding to permit applications from the six groups and depriving them of their First Amendment rights.
The groups include Code Pink, Three Rivers Climate Convergence, the Thomas Merton Center, Pittsburgh Outdoor Artists, Bail Out the People, and G6 Billion Journey and Witness.
The groups want the permits, and the right to erect temporary "tent cities" in four public parks to accommodate out-of-town demonstrators, and as a "form of symbolic protest."
They are represented by Jules Lobel with the Center for Constitutional Rights, Witold Walczak with the ACLU and Michael Healey with Healey & Hornack.
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.