By David Skolnick

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

If you want to have a parade, block party or any event on a public street or right of way, city law requires a $1 million liability-insurance policy with Youngstown named as an additional insured party.

The law has been on the books since city council approved an ordinance Sept. 19, 1984.

But is it legal — or a violation of the First Amendment, which grants “the right of the people peaceably to assemble”?

It depends on who’s interpreting the law.

“It sure looks unconstitutional,” said Wilson Huhn, associate director of the Constitutional Law Center at the University of Akron School of Law, a distinguished professor who teaches advanced constitutional law classes. “Americans have a constitutional right to march and demonstrate. The city has the right to have people seek a permit, but the city can’t charge demonstrators for liability insurance.”

David F. Forte, a Cleveland- Marshall College of Law professor who teaches and researches constitutional law, said as long as the fee charged by Youngstown is the same for these types of events, the city policy is probably acceptable.

“They might be just on the good side,” Forte said. “They might be just able to constitutionally get away with it as long as the fee is consistent and doesn’t vary based on the events.”

Youngstown Law Director Martin Hume said the city law isn’t a constitutional violation as it treats everyone equally.

“We believe the insurance requirement is reasonable, but we want to make sure it isn’t cost-prohibitive,” he said. “A city or state can’t impose an undue burden on the exercise of First Amendment rights. But if it’s a group with financial resources, there’s nothing unconstitutional about imposing a fee. We have the right to protect the city, and the insurance requirement doesn’t violate anyone’s constitutional rights.”

The question arose earlier this week when Jason Cooke, a local animal-rights activist, was told by city officials that he needed a permit and the $1 million liability insurance — with Youngstown named as an additional insured party — for a March 21 rally, starting at 8:45 a.m. That’s an hour before a 46-year-old city man’s municipal court hearing on a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty.

The liability insurance costs about $300, and Cooke said he doesn’t have the money to purchase it. About 100 people are to attend the rally, he said, outside city hall — municipal court is inside — at 26 S. Phelps St.

On Thursday, a day after The Vindicator first asked Hume about Cooke’s complaint, the two met. Hume determined the insurance requirement isn’t applicable in this matter.

“It’s not blocking a city street or a right of way, so they don’t need to apply for the insurance,” Hume said. “The ordinance doesn’t apply under these circumstances.”

Though pleased by the decision, Cooke still objects to the city’s requiring some groups to have a $1 million liability insurance with the city named as an additional insured party.

“I have to ask the question: Why?” he said. “I don’t need it, but it doesn’t take away from the underlying fact that this is still on the books. People are going to be horrified to realize that this is in place.”

The rally is designed to draw attention to a scheduled plea hearing for William Clemons, charged with animal cruelty March 13, 2014. Five dogs were removed from his home with sores on their bodies. The case has been continuously delayed.