The city of Charlotte, N.C., is reviewing its crowd control policies to accommodate the expected influx of people at the Democratic National Convention in September.
The Charlotte City Council agreed to consider proposed amendments to the ordinances written by City Attorney Bob Hagemann. The purpose of the new laws, which would require protesting groups to register for designated time slots, is to aid law enforcement officers during the DNC while maintaining the freedom of demonstration, Hagemann said. Many locals, however, believe the amendments will infringe upon protesters’ constitutional rights.
One of the primary changes to the city crowd control code would be the creation of special protesting regulations for “extraordinary events,” which the proposal defines as large-scale special events of national or international significance, Hagemann said.
The city council is scheduled to vote on the new policies Jan. 23.
“We realized that we do not have ordinarily 100,000 people trying to march at the same time, but it’s going to happen at the DNC,” he said. “But we can’t have parades in all parts of the city.”
If the council approves the new ordinances, the city will have the ability to declare an extraordinary event and create a system to allow for various protesting groups to have an opportunity to demonstrate. The system proposed by the city attorney’s office would be to set a deadline for groups to have designated time slots during which they can protest. A lottery would be used if the number of groups exceeded the number of time slots, Hagemann said.
This system was used in Denver, Colo. during the 2008 Democratic National Committee. Hagemann said there were additional time slots in Denver after all the groups registered to protest.
There is fear, however, that the ordinances are to vague and therefore have the potential to be too restrictive. The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina believes the proposals may be in conflict with the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, said Katy Parker, the group’s legal director.
“As it is written right now, the ordinance gives too much discretion to police—we have concerns related to free speech and search and seizure issues,” Parker said, noting the sections of the proposed ordinances that prohibit certain items, even if concealed in bags or purses.
“Our concern is that it would give the police carte blanche to search any [bag],” Parker said. “Too much discretion to the police has often resulted in arbitrary use of it.”
The city and ACLU are working together to ensure that the new ordinances are in full accordance with the Constitution, both entities stated.
A public hearing was held in Charlotte Jan. 9 to give the public the opportunity to speak in favor of or against these measures. Two people were removed from the hearing and one was later arrested, according to WCNC-36—Charlotte’s local news channel. Many of those at the hearing were members of the Occupy Charlotte movement, who would not be allowed to set up camps, sleep, store personal belongings or build any sort of temporary structure.
Sunshine Hillygus, associate professor of political science, said the proposed crowd control ordinance will likely have little implication for the national Democratic Party.
“This happens at every convention,” Hillygus said. “There is a little more preoccupation with this because it involves the Occupy protesters.”
She added that neither major political party wants protesters in the same image as convention participants, a fear that goes back to 1968, when major protests occurred during the DNC in Chicago.
Members of Occupy Duke have not been in contact with members of Occupy Charlotte, said senior Shreyan Sen, a member of Occupy Duke, in an email Jan. 12. Sen added that Occupy Duke protesters are “in solidarity” with Occupy Charlotte and noted that there have been informal, internal talks of traveling to Charlotte to protest during the DNC.
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