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, )

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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 2

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