Activists Fight for Right to Protest on the Mall
posted 6:28 pm Sat January 12, 2008 - Washington
Saturday, the Park Service held a final meeting for public input on plans to revitalize and restore the green space on the Mall, while still accomodating the crowds.
However, this idea of limiting or even preventing people from gathering on America's front yard has rasied concerns from civil rights groups.
"Once you have the government telling people where they must stand to express a political point of view is the point which you have the government in violation of first amendment rights," explains Mara Verheynan-Hilliard, the co-founder of the Partnership for Civil Justice.
The National Park Service says it is just trying to preserve the natural resources and has even offered three alternatives to the original plan.
The NPS is still seeking additional public input and is asking that public comments be received by January 15th. Once the information is compiled, they will develop a draft plan and environmental impact statement to be released this Summer.
Not a member yet? Click Here to sign up.
Please leave your comments below:
Messages that harass, abuse or threaten other members; have obscene or otherwise objectionable content; have spam, commercial or
advertising content or inappropriate links may be removed and may result in the loss of your posting privileges.
Please do not post any private information unless you want it to be available publicly.
Never assume that you are completely anonymous and cannot be identified by your posts.
© 2008 NewsChannel 8, a division of Allbritton Communications Company-
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The 'RUNNING MAN' icon is a registered trademark of America Online, Inc.
NewsChannel 8 to leave comments on news stories.