Federal Judge Denies Request to Block Chicago’s Security Plan for DNC

The ruling followed a lawsuit filed by an LGBT advocacy group after the city denied the group’s application to protest within the DNC ’security footprint.’

File photo of a judge's gavel. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A federal judge on Friday rejected a motion from an LGBT advocacy group to block Chicago’s ordinance that will establish security zones around the Democratic National Convention (DNC) next month.

The decision followed a lawsuit filed by Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws, which challenged the city’s denial of its permit application to protest outside the DNC.

The lawsuit, filed in May, also sought a preliminary injunction against the city’s ordinance that restricts the list of items allowed within the “security footprint”—a protected area around the DNC sites.

The list of prohibited items includes laptops, sealed packages, drones, firearms, ammunition, tents, “pointed objects including knives of any kind,” and any other items considered “potential safety hazards.”

The group argued that the ordinance was “unconstitutionally vague in violation of their Fourteenth Amendment due process rights,” and that it will have “chilling effect on their First Amendment rights.”

U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin denied the motion in a written opinion on July 19, saying the ordinance has established “clearly defined minimal guidelines to govern law enforcement as required by the Constitution.”

“Plaintiffs’ argument that a protestor would be punished for carrying items such as pens, first aid kits, and protest buttons is well beyond the pale of any reasonable interpretation of the Ordinance,” the judge stated.

“As Defendants point out, this particular phrasing is commonplace and well-understood by ordinary Americans,” he wrote.

The plaintiffs alleged future injury under “a vagueness claim.” In their affidavit, they cited an example where they may want to bring items like “pens, first aid kits containing scissors, and protest buttons that attach with a pin in the back” into the security footprint but were unsure if these items would be considered as “pointed objects.”

However, the judge said the court was “hesitant to find that Plaintiffs have standing based on these facts.”

“Simply put, if Plaintiffs show up to the protests with pens, first aid kits, and protest buttons, they are unlikely to face punishment,” Judge Durkin wrote.

“It is likely that Plaintiffs will be asked to discard certain items (such as the scissors) before they are allowed entry into the Security Footprint, just as happens at airports on a daily basis.”

Rebecca Glenberg, senior supervising attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois, who represents protesters challenging the ordinance, told The Epoch Times that the ACLU has filed an appeal against the decision.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws for comment but did not hear back as of publication time.

The group has previously appealed the denial of its application to a hearing officer but the city said the proposed march would require too many resources to secure the parade and manage traffic disruptions.