Calling a Maryland Transit Administration regulation an unconstitutional restriction on First Amendment freedoms, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland today took the MTA to court to get the rule stricken. Currently, the regulation requires anyone wishing to engage in free speech on MTA public sidewalks and surrounding streets to first obtain a permit. The ACLU has filed suit on behalf of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and Project Vote and two ACORN employees, who have been permanently banned from registering people to vote – a protected First Amendment activity – on MTA property.
The case was filed in federal district court in Baltimore and seeks a preliminary injunction against future enforcement of the regulation.
“ACORN voter registration efforts help working people participate in the democratic process,” said Sonja Merchant-Jones, chairwoman of Baltimore City ACORN. “People who rely on public transportation often find it difficult to register to vote at county election offices. Harassing ACORN workers and threatening to arrest them for educating people and registering them to vote is wrong and unconstitutional.”
ACORN and its partner, Project Vote, organize voter registration drives that seek to register low- and moderate-income voters. In March and April 2006, ACORN employees were threatened with arrest and blocked from peaceably distributing literature and registering voters on public sidewalks near bus stops in Baltimore City. The employees were told that time-limited permits were required for each activist, each day that they wished to register voters, and for each MTA location.
“There are too many unreasonable hurdles for working people to who want to register and vote,” said Michael Slater, deputy director of Project Vote. “Project Vote works to block arbitrary, unnecessary and unconstitutional requirements that make it difficult for people to participate in democracy. We are part of this suit because the MTA’s regulations fit that description.”
After their run in with police, and several tangles with red tape, the activists finally were able to secure permits in early April. But the trouble continued. Even though he had a permit, one activist was repeatedly harassed by the police, with an officer actually following him on to a bus when he attempted to leave and avoid a confrontation. After that incident, MTA officials notified ACORN that they would never again be able to obtain permits to register voters or engage in any “free speech” activity near MTA property.
“It is a sad day when government officials block citizens from registering and educating voters rather than supporting efforts to foster participation in our democracy,” said Deborah A. Jeon, legal director of the ACLU of Maryland. “MTA’s regulation is plainly unconstitutional and the public interest would be better promoted by changing the policy and allowing people to speak freely on public property.”
The regulation requires any person who wishes to engage in “any manner of exercising constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of religion, speech, and press” on “free areas” of MTA property “to first obtain a written permit.” Such broad restrictions have long been ruled an unconstitutional prior restraint on First Amendment rights. In addition, such broad language restricts even single incidents of free expression that pose no threat to MTA’s articulated goals of protecting patrons and ensuring the safe, free, and orderly transit of patron traffic.
ACLU-MD wrote letters to MTA officials in July and August of 2006, seeking a change to the policy. They rebuffed our request, leaving the activists no choice but to challenge the restrictions in court. Plaintiffs are represented by ACLU cooperating counsel Andrew H. Marks, David M. Schnorrenberg, Todd J. Cochran, Clyde E. Findley and Amy W. Ray, of Crowell & Moring LLP, and by ACLU-MD lawyers Deborah A. Jeon and David Rocah.