Home > Legal Docket > People's Organization for Progress, et al. v. City of Newark, et al.

Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Essex County/Direct

Bennet Zurofsky/Reitman Parsonnet

The ACLU-NJ filed a lawsuit on behalf of the People's Organization for Progress, New Jersey Peace Action, and itself, challenging two Newark policies affecting free speech rights -- one which restricts the right of individuals to distribute leaflets on public sidewalks and streets, and another which requires individuals to buy a $1,000,000 insurance policy in order to engage in protests, marches or vigils. Both practices violate the right to freedom of speech under the United States and New Jersey Constitutions. Newark's handbill ordinance (Ordinance 8:6-1) states not only that persons handing out notices or leaflets on public sidewalks or streets without a permit can be arrested, but further requires that, in order to obtain a permit, the Chief of Police must be "satisfied that the person is of good moral character," the applicant must be fingerprinted, and the applicant must submit two recent photographs of himself "of a size determined by the Chief of Police." After obtaining the permit, "[t]he permittee shall carry the permit and shall exhibit it to any policeman or other person, on request." In addition, until recently Newark recognized that requiring individuals or grass-roots organizations to obtain a million-dollar insurance policy as a prerequisite for holding a march, rally, or vigil on a public street violated free speech protections. As such, free speech activities were exempt from the City's insurance requirement. However, Newark has recently reinstituted their insurance requirement for free speech activities and, in addition, requires individuals to indemnify the City for any harm that may occur to them during the march. As such, individuals and organizations that cannot afford the cost of insurance will be precluded from exercising their free speech rights.