July 28, 2004

CAMDEN — A group of Lawnside residents, known as Citizens for a Better Lawnside, filed a lawsuit today seeking to have a court strike down a permit ordinance that violates residents constitutional rights to assemble and speak freely.

"The ordinance is written so broadly that it gives the borough the power to deny a speaker a permit outright or make it cost prohibitive to obtain a permit. The ordinance makes it possible to silence any speaker that the borough finds to be controversial," explained Frank L. Corrado, an attorney with the Wildwood firm Rossi, Barry, Corrado, Grassi & Radell, P.C. who is representing the residents on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

Another aspect of the ordinance that residents object to is a provision allowing the police to unilaterally change the place and time of a speaker's event. "When and where a group chooses to hold their event is as much a part of their message as their signs and speeches," said Lenora Lapidus, Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

The lawsuit challenges the heavy-handed regulation of a broad range of expressive activity, such as political demonstrations, which are contained in an ordinance adopted by the Borough of Lawnside earlier this year. The ordinance stifles speech by imposing a host of burdens on prospective speakers and giving the borough essentially unfettered discretion to deny speakers a permit to hold an event.

Among the problems with the ordinance are a 45 day advance notice requirement and a provision that allows police to deny a permit for a number of reasons such as a claim that the event will interfere with traffic or if the police deem it unsafe. The ordinance makes no provision for speakers to appeal a denial of a permit. The ordinance also gives the borough the discretion to require speakers to reimburse it for the cost of police used at an event or to require a speaker to obtain insurance prior to an event.

The Lawnside residents are represented by Frank L. Corrado of Rossi, Barry, Corrado, Grassi & Radell, P.C. and Lenora Lapidus and J.C. Salyer of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey Foundation. The lawsuit captioned, Anderson et al. v. The Borough of Lawnside, was filed today in the District Court of New Jersey in Camden.