Charles M. Grossman, M.D. v. City of Portland, a Public Body, and Todd Davis

This appeal presents us with the question of the constitutionality of an ordinance requiring all speakers, demonstrators, and entertainers to obtain a permit before making use of the public parks.

Under former section 20.08.010 of the Portland City Code, it was unlawful for any person “to conduct or participate in any organized entertainment, demonstration, or public gathering, or to make any address, in a park” without a written permit issued by the Parks Commissioner. Unaware of this ordinance, and lacking the required permit, members of the local chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility staged a small, peaceful anti-nuclear protest, involving six to eight people, in Portland’s Waterfront Park. Dr. Charles Grossman carried a sign in the protest and was arrested and handcuffed by Portland police officers. He subsequently sued the City of Portland (“the City”) and the primary arresting officer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , claiming that the arrest violated his First Amendment right to free speech. We agree, and reverse in part the district court’s grant of summary judgment to defendants.

I.

During the Portland Rose Festival in June of 1990, the USS New Jersey, a navy ship…