Convention protesters won't be searched(Denver)

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Denver Post

People who enter the public-demonstration zone outside the Pepsi Center during the Democratic National Convention won't be searched by police unless there is probable cause to do so, attorneys said in U.S. District Court in Denver today.

The disclosure came during a pretrial hearing in a case filed against the U.S. Secret Service and the city and county of Denver by the American Civil Liberties Union and several advocacy groups who plan to demonstrate during the convention.

Attorneys for the advocacy groups were concerned that police planned to search everyone who entered the public-demonstration zone, a 50,000-square-foot area that is going to be surrounded by chain-link fencing about 200 feet away from the entrance of the Pepsi Center.

The ACLU has sued Denver and the Secret Service, arguing that the public-demonstration zone and parade routes set by the agencies are too restrictive and too far away from the DNC and the delegates coming in and out of the Pepsi Center and therefore infringe on their free-speech rights.

A trial in the case is expected to begin Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. in Judge Marcia Krieger's courtroom.



Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_10023096