by TChris

Concerned that protestors might exercise their First Amendment rights during an economic summit that President Bush will attend with world leaders at Sea Island on the coast of Georgia next month, the City of Brunswick and Glynn County enacted laws designed to inhibit demonstrations.

Brunswick and Glynn County approved laws in March requiring permits for groups of six or more people gathering on public property for any purpose aimed at attracting the attention of bystanders. The laws require groups to put up deposits equal to estimated costs for clean-up and police protection. They also prohibit participants from carrying signs larger than 2 feet by 3 feet, or on sticks that could be used as weapons.

The ACLU filed suit today asking a court to declare the laws unconstitutional. The ACLU has recent precedent on its side.

The lawsuit in federal court comes 18 days after a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a similar law in Augusta. The ACLU filed that suit on behalf of women's activist Martha Burk, who fought with the city last year over her right to demonstrate at the Masters golf tournament.