ACLU settles free speech lawsuit with PPD over protest

PROVIDENCE – The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island on Friday announced it has settled a federal lawsuit it had filed against the Providence Police Department over an alleged free speech violation.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Shannah Kurland and Gladys Gould, who were protesting with a few hundred other individuals in 2013 about then-gubernatorial candidate Gina M. Raimondo’s pension reform actions while she served as state treasurer. The protest was held outside of a campaign fundraiser at the Roger Williams Park Casino.

At the protest, the police department was alleged to have ordered protesters to move farther and farther away from the event. Kurland refused and was arrested, while Gould was said to have reluctantly complied with the police direction.

The lawsuit claimed that parks and sidewalks are “quintessential public forums” and that the plaintiffs were not impeding public pedestrian or vehicle traffic, and therefore there was “no legitimate governmental interest in relocating their protest.”

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As part of the settlement, the city admitted no liability but paid each plaintiff $13,000 and paid $74,000 in lawyer fees.

The lawsuit was filed in 2014.

“The city and the Providence Police Department deserve recognition for their willingness to agree to this settlement,” said ACLU cooperating attorney Richard A. Sinapi. “This agreement is a recognition that Gladys and Shannah’s rights to move freely about and engage in First Amendment free expression activities in a public place were violated. In the past, the failure of [the] city and the Providence Police Department to acknowledge and take appropriate action to prevent infringement of free expression activities by police has subjected the city to numerous lawsuits that have cost taxpayers nearly $250,000 over the past several years in settlements alone not to mention the costs of defense. Hopefully, going forward, the rights of people to peaceably move about, assemble and engage in First Amendment activities on public streets, sidewalks and parks will be respected and protected.”