The Blotter: Gurban Gets A Clue
At the City Pages Blogs, Britt Robson writes:
Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board Superintendent Jon Gurban has belatedly realized that calling the cops on a park board candidate for passing out campaign literature in the parks June 8 was a public relations nightmare, and most likely an infringement of the First Amendment. Gurban, who justified his action by citing a 14-year old board policy that had rarely, if ever, been implmented, suspended the policy on Thursday, with a memo to park commissioners that he said will double as a news release for all "park users."
Acknowledging that "our legal counsel has advised me that case law has evolved since 1991," and that "our current regulations may be overly restrictive," Gurban declared that permits will no longer be required of individuals or groups of less than 50 who wish to pass out non-commercial literature in the park.