By Robert S. Eshelman, September 23, 2009
Tuesday afternoon, US District Court Judge Gary Lancaster rejected a request by the ACLU of Pennsylvania and the Center for Constitutional Rights for an injunction against the Pittsburgh Police. The lawyers alleged in the suit that local law enforcement has been systematically harassing and carrying out unconstitutional searches and seizures of members of two G-20 protest groups--the Seeds of Peace Collective and the Three Rivers Climate Convergence (3RCC). The judge refused to restrain the police and suggested that if police conduct warrants damages claims, then the ACLU should file suit. The ACLU says it will pursue such claims. More...
On Thursday, August 20, 2009, diverse groups opposing the policies of the G-20 Summit, which will be held in their City of Pittsburgh from September 24-25, gathered for a press conference at Point State Park to announce why they will be demonstrating against the G-20, and to highlight the continued fight for their First Amendment rights. Jessica Benner of the Thomas Merton Center Antiwar Committee, which is organizing a mass “Peoples’ March to the G20,” explains that “anyone who has lost a job, a home, a loved one to war, or lived without adequate healthcare, water, or food has been directly affected by policies set by the G-20.”
Law enforcement officials have, over the past decade, used gatherings of national and international leaders as license to suspend civil liberties. During the recent G-20 Summit, Pittsburgh proved to be no exception. The city was transformed into a police state where our most cherished freedoms, especially the freedom to dissent, were subject to the martial law-type tactics I witnessed behind the Iron Curtain.
