Should Demonstrators Near The White House And National Mall Be Charged Fees?
Monday is the last day you can submit comments on the National Park Service's proposed permit rule changes.
Women’s March protesters took to the National Mall in 2017.
Carmel Delshad / WAMU
If you want to hold any sort of First Amendment rally or demonstration near the White House or on the National Mall, you have to get a permit from the National Park Service (NPS). Those permits have always been free.
But the volume and complexity of permit requests have increased over recent years, according to Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst. That’s part of the reason why the federal agency is considering an overhaul of the permitting system, including charging fees for permit applications for free speech demonstrations.
The 60-day public comment periods on the proposed changes ends on Monday. More than 7,600 comments had been submitted by Friday at noon.
According to the Park Service, the fees would go toward covering the costs of reviewing permits, putting up fencing to guide crowds, picking up trash, and repairing the grass. The Park Service already charges fees for special events.
Some free speech advocacy groups, like the American Civil Liberties Union, have voiced strong opposition to the proposal.
“These are the most far-ranging proposed changes to these rules since the Nixon Administration,” said Arthur Spitzer, the co-legal director of the ACLU of D.C. “While there are a few ways they may be making life easier for demonstrators, in most ways, it looks like they’re trying to make life a lot harder.”
He took issue with the Park Service’s claim that they’ve seen a drastic growth in protest permit requests. “The really big growth in applications in the last few years has been for volleyball permits,” he said.
He said the ACLU is also particularly concerned with the Park Service’s suggestion to close much of the sidewalk outside the White House. “That’s maybe the most iconic place in the country for demonstrations,” he said, citing the women suffragists who protested there in 1917 during the Wilson administration.
However, Litterst said that the Secret Service has already implemented that security zone around the White House. The proposal would simply codify the existing safety regulations.
Women suffragists picketing in front of the White house in 1917.Public domain / Wikipedia
“We agree that it could use some improvement,” Spitzer said of the permit processing system. But he believes the proposed changes will make the process slower.
The Park Service has requested suggestions from the public on whether a fee seems appropriate, how much it should be, and on numerous other proposed changes to the rules governing free speech demonstrations (you can see them all here).
If you want to weigh in, you can submit your comments at Regulations.gov or send a letter. After Monday, the NPS will review the comments and determine whether to implement, modify, or withdraw the proposal.
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