[Infowarrior] - Feds, Denver attempt to keep DNC security info secret

[Richard Forno]

Feds, Denver attempt to keep DNC security info secret
By Erin Rosa 06/11/2008 | 2 Comments

http://www.coloradoindependent.com/view/feds-denver-attempt

The exact location of a public demonstration zone outside of the  
Democratic National Convention and information about how close  
activists will be to delegates could be legally sealed from the public  
if the United States Secret Service and the city of Denver can  
persuade a district judge to approve a protective order blocking the  
information.

Both federal and local law enforcement officials are seeking an order  
to keep secret the specifics over their planned demonstration zone for  
protesters outside the Pepsi Center, where the convention is set to be  
held in August, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of  
Colorado.
On May 1 the ACLU filed a lawsuit against Denver and the Secret  
Service on behalf of 12 groups seeking information about where  
activists would be allowed to converge during the convention in a  
designated zone.

During a hearing for the suit on Monday, it was revealed that the city  
would be using a fenced-in portion of Parking Lot A near the front  
entrance of the Pepsi Center. However, law enforcement officials  
planning security for the convention have repeatedly declined to  
disclose details, including how close activists will be able to get to  
the delegates or the materials that will be used for fencing and other  
barricades surrounding the area.

Instead, the convention's security preparers, citing national security  
concerns, may only share such information with court officials and  
with attorneys involved with the suit, a move that the ACLU says it  
opposes. City officials indicated months ago that a zone would be  
designated within sight and sound of the Pepsi Center during the  
convention, but the ACLU argues that its plaintiffs have a  
constitutional right to review the details and to ensure their First  
Amendment rights are protected.

“After those restrictions are disclosed, we intend to consult with our  
clients about whether we should challenge any of those restrictions in  
the second phase of the lawsuit. That consultation will be impossible  
if the attorneys are not allowed to discuss the restrictions with  
their clients,” said Mark Silverstein, legal director for the Colorado  
ACLU. “Accordingly, the plaintiffs attorneys will ask that the  
government bear the burden of showing that such extreme secrecy is  
necessary.  We don't believe it is.”

The city attorney's office did not return a request for comment, but  
another hearing in the suit is expected at the end of June to  
determine if a protective order is necessary for the information.

Silverstein has stated that the ACLU filed the lawsuit over concerns  
regarding First Amendment violations that occurred at the Democratic  
convention in Boston in 2004, where so-called protester "free-speech  
zones" — consisting of concrete barricades and fencing -- were set up  
outside the convention site.

A Boston judge ruled that the zones were unconstitutional less than a  
month before the 2004 convention, but said that there was not enough  
time to change the plans.

Court papers show that the ACLU intends to seek a final court decision  
on the matter by Aug. 4, which is 20 days before the start of the  
convention.


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Denver lags in DNC security disclosure
http://www.coloradoindependent.com/view/denver-lags-in-dnc

By Erin Rosa 06/05/2008

Democrats may be attending their national convention a week before the  
Republicans hold theirs, but key details surrounding civil rights and  
security-related preparations for the Republican National Convention  
have been made more readily available in the host city of St. Paul,  
Minn., while law enforcement officials in Denver remain mum on their  
specific plans.

The Denver Police Department and federal U.S. Secret Service are busy  
coordinating security for the Democratic National Convention Aug. 25-28.

Currently, the department and federal agency are facing three  
convention-related lawsuits focusing on civil liberties issues of  
permitted protest space and parade routes, arrest procedures and  
purchases of crowd-control weapons for the event, because activists  
who plan to demonstrate in Denver say the public has a right to know  
such details in order to avoid First Amendment violations that have  
plagued previous political conventions.

In contrast, law enforcement in St. Paul, Minn., the location for the  
Republican National Convention set for Sept. 1-4, have already  
disclosed a parade route and new weapons that are expected to arrive  
before the event. The city is also facing less civil rights-related  
litigation than Denver.