Thanks to Annie Young for raising this issue to MPRB and staff, for correcting me on Vivian Mason's motion regarding John Gurban, and for another example of why I never volunteer to take minutes except in dire circumstances.
Having said that, I can't readily agree with Dann Dobson about the constitutionality of the ordinance and feel that it may indeed be complicated. Corporate and police powers of local government are well established in the courts; the issue for me is the selective enforcement resulting in unconstitutional favoritism to those folks who happen to be aware of this stealth regulation and discrimination against those who are, understandingly, ignorant of the rules. The rule may well be constitutional (yet stupid and offensive) and in that case, it is the MPRB and staff that are curtailing civil rights in the way they operate. I think selective enforcement is a harder case to make, but it is the one that seems to fit for me. John Gurban's offense was to single out Jason Stone (the fact that Stone had heard of the rule in a meeting is irrelevant I think). Gurban cites example 3 from the rule the specific grounds for denial of a permit in his communication with the Mpls Observer, that Stone's literature contained a material falsehood or misrepresentation--totally irrelevant, but instructive as to motive. For those who don't have access to the regulation, here's the most relevant section of the nine to my mind to the Stone/Gurban incident and our discussion: "Section 3. Uses Requiring a Permit Under These Regulations. A person may not engage in any of the following activities on park property without a permit. a. Noncommercial Solicitations. The solicitation of donations of mone y or property and the sale or offer to sell any goods, services, or organizational memberships of any nature; b. Public Assemblies. Any public assembly, demonstration, picket, parade, or other activity conducted for the purpose of publicly expressing views or ideas. c. Sale or distribution of Printed Material. The sale, distribution or circulation of any leaflets, handbills, notices, pamphlets, books, documents or papers of any kind, and the solicitation of signatures on a petition." I hope someone gets this whole thing posted eventually somewhere. Bill Kahn Prospect Park "there is nothing divine about morality; it is a purely human affair" --Albert Einstein REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
