Federal judge upholds city ordinance allowing police to question small gatherings
December 8, 2010
Georgia: Federal judge Lisa Wood, of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, upheld, on December 2, a ruling that allows Brunswick city police to question small gatherings of demonstrators whether they have a permit and to continue to enforce the city's ordinance on disorderly conduct. The ruling comes in part from denying a motion from a community activist to ban police from question groups smaller than 100 people. The motion put forth by Rev. Zak Lyde contends that the ordinance, which requires groups of larger than 100 people to have a permit, is unconstitutional and infringes of people's freedom of speech. Judge Wood said that Lyde gave "no evidence or legal argument whatsoever" and, therefore, denied the motion. The other part of the ruling resulted from a lawsuit Lyde filed against the City of Brunswick and police officer Philip Popwell, asserting that when Popwell confronted Lyde during a demonstration, he made him and other demonstrators "feel uneasy" and "fearful of arrest." The conflict with Popwell resulted in Lyde's arrest for disorderly conduct. In response to Lyde's lawsuit, which claimed that the disorderly conduct ordinance violated his freedom of speech, the city revised its ordinance to render it constitutional.[1]
Footnotes
Federal courts:
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Middle District of Georgia, Northern District of Georgia, Southern District of Georgia • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Middle District of Georgia, Northern District of Georgia, Southern District of Georgia
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State resources:
Courts in Georgia • Georgia judicial elections • Judicial selection in Georgia
