Verlo et al v. City and County of Denver et al

Filing 98

ORDER Adopting Stipulation by Judge William J. Martinez on 04/06/2016. (cthom, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Judge William J. Martínez
Civil Action No. 15-cv-1775-WJM-MJW
ERIC VERLO,
JANET MATZEN, and
FULLY INFORMED JURY ASSOCIATION,
Plaintiffs,
v.
THE CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER, COLORADO, a municipality,
ROBERT C. WHITE, in his official capacity as chief of police for Denver, and
CHIEF JUDGE MICHAEL MARTINEZ, in his official capacity as chief judge of the
Second Judicial District,
Defendants.

ORDER ADOPTING STIPULATION

Defendants City and County of Denver and Robert C. White, having entered into
a Stipulation with Plaintiffs dated August 20, 2015 (ECF No. 23) and having agreed that
such Stipulation may be entered as an order of this Court (id. ¶ 5), the Court
accordingly ORDERS as follows:
1.

Plaintiffs and Defendants City and County of Denver and Robert C. White agree
that the Lindsey-Flanigan plaza (“Plaza”), which is located between the Van
Cise-Simonet Detention Center and the Lindsey-Flanigan courthouse is a public
forum and any content-based regulations must be narrowly drawn to effectuate a
compelling state interest and reasonable time, place and manner regulations.

2.

Plaintiffs who wish to engage in peacefully passing out jury nullification literature
to passersby on the Plaza are entitled to do so and that Denver, through its
police or sheriff department, will not arrest or otherwise charge Plaintiffs for
handing out literature regarding jury nullification so long as Plaintiffs do not
violate Colorado law or Denver’s Revised Municipal Code when they are handing
out their literature. Plaintiffs and Defendants City and County of Denver and
Robert C. White stipulate that Plaintiffs’ proposed intent of peacefully handing

out jury nullification literature to or discussing jury nullification with passersby at
the Plaza, without more, does not violate Colorado law. Plaintiffs acknowledge
that their right to hand out literature regarding jury nullification is also subject to
compliance with any other applicable law.
3.

Through this Stipulation, Denver is not waiving its right to impose content and
viewpoint neutral reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on the use of
the Plaza or to charge or arrest one or more of the Plaintiffs if probable cause
exists to believe that their conduct violates the law.

4.

On August 14, 2015, Denver District Court Chief Judge Michael Martinez entered
an Order banning all speech activities from the courthouse plaza and the areas
surrounding the courthouse. Denver stipulates that it does not intend to enf orce
the August 14, 2015 Order as written and will only impose content and viewpoint
neutral reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on the use of the Plaza,
and/or other exterior areas surrounding the Plaza if Denver determines that a
compelling need exists to do so.
The Court retains jurisdiction over this action as well as the parties to the

Stipulation, in order to enforce the terms of this Order.
Dated this 6th day of April, 2016.
BY THE COURT:

William J. Martínez
United States District Judge

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