Augusta parade law ruled unconstitutional

BOSTON – Parts of a parade permit ordinance in Augusta, Maine, are unconstitutional, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday.

The appeals court ruled that the 30-day advance notice and meeting requirements were unconstitutional. It also ruled that the city may charge a fee, but it found that the fee charged in the case that led to the lawsuit was excessive.

The case arose from an attempt to organize a “March for Truth” parade in opposition to the war in Iraq in 2004. After calculating the costs for traffic control, the city police department charged march organizer Timothy Sullivan $1,500 for a permit.

Sullivan, of Castine, Maine, claimed the fee was excessive and was joined in his suit by Larry Dansinger of Monroe, Maine, who said the city’s permit fee of nearly $2,000 prevented him from holding a workers’ rights march in Augusta.

A federal judge in Bangor, Maine, ruled that the fee, the 30-day advance notice and mandatory meeting with the police chief were all unconstitutional.

On Friday, the appeals court agreed that the advance notice and meeting requirements were unconstitutional. Advance notice requirements “restrict spontaneous free expression and assembly rights safeguarded in the First Amendment,” Senior Circuit Judge Levin H. Campbell wrote.

The court’s majority also found that the city may charge a fee for a mass gathering, but that Sullivan was overcharged by $478.55.

It also ruled that there was no need for an indigency requirement for people who can’t raise the fee because people are free to hold a demonstration or parade on public sidewalks.