JUDGE FINDS NEW YORK PARADE RULE UNCONSTITUTIONAL

NEW YORK (Reuters) - As New York honored astronaut John Glenn with a huge
ticker tape parade Monday, a federal judge struck down part of the city's
parade ordinance because it could be used to restrict free speech.

U.S. District Judge Leonard Sand said a provision of the ordinance was
unconstitutional because it failed to set a deadline for the approval of
parade permits. The lack of a time frame could allow the police department
to delay action on granting a permit, stopping or altering some marches.

Sand said he was striking down the provision because delays could be based
on the subject matter of some parades. He said he was particularly troubled
by two recent cases in which the department delayed action on police
brutality marches.

"A scheme such as this one, where the police department may routinely grant
applications either immediately or only after extensive delay, is dangerous
precisely because it lacks consistency and predictability," he said.

While municipalities can restrict demonstrations and offer alternative
routes because of safety and traffic concerns, it is a violation of free
speech rights to ban them for content.

Cheering crowds lined Broadway Monday for the parade honoring Glenn's
return to space aboard the space shuttle Discovery. Just last month the
city hosted another ticker tape parade honoring the Yankees for winning the
World Series.

However, some groups organizing smaller protest marches have had a more
difficult time staging their events.

The current suit before Sand was brought by a member of the Million
Marijuana March Organization. The police department denied the group's
application for a march on Fifth Avenue and offered an alternative route.

The provision in question requires permit applicants to submit a written
application to the department at least 36 hours before the event.

The police commissioner is directed to grant permit requests "after due
investigation," but no time limit is set.

"We believe the governing law indicates that delay can easily lead to the
suppression of speech in certain circumstances," Sand said.

As an example he cited The Coalition Against Police Brutality's application
for a permit March 12 for a March 31 parade. The police department did not
approve the permit until March 30, the day before the event. No permit
letter was sent out until that date.

The judge said he reviewed 22 applications filed within a month of an event
and found eight of the applicants were given 10 or more days of notice
prior to the event, and seven were notified at least three days in advance.

He also cited a parade permit requested by the October 22 Coalition Against
Police Brutality. That group applied for a permit Sept. 13 for the Oct. 22
event. The applicants did not receive a response until Oct. 14.

Another judge in a separate case involving that march ruled in October the
one-month delay was "unconscionable" and created a "strong inference" of
content-based regulation.

Checked-by: Richard Lake