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NJ Superior Court, Essex County, Chancery Division/Direct
Bennet Zurofsky/Reitman Parsonnet
On February 21, 2008, the ACLU-NJ filed to enforce a Consent Order that the City of Newark signed in 2004, but which it has not followed. In 2004, the ACLU-NJ represented the People's Organization for Progress (POP), NJ Peace Action, and itself, challenging Newark's requirement that individuals or organizations seeking to hold free speech marches pay for a $1,000,000 insurance policy. In October 2004, the Superior Court of New Jersey, Essex County, ruled that, since the Newark council never authorized an insurance requirement for permits, Newark officials could not impose one. In December 2004, Newark signed a consent order stating it would not enforce any insurance requirements against plaintiffs.
Since then, Newark has continued to include an insurance requirement on its permit application and has failed to put any statement on the form clarifying that the insurance requirement doesn't apply to free speech matters. After over three years of trying to persuade Newark to change its forms, and after having to intercede on numerous occasions to obtain approval for applicants who did not have insurance (and whose permit applications were delayed or denied because of lack of insurance), the ACLU-NJ, on February 21, 2008, filed to enforce plaintiffs' rights under the Consent Order.
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