Women In Black Are Back On The RiverWalk Saturday For Anti-War Vigil

A local group known as Women in Black will stage an anti-war march along the Detroit riverfront Saturday at 1:30 p.m. after a dustup this week between the American Civil Liberties Union and the nonprofit Detroit RiverFront Conservancy, which has improved much of the land along the Detroit River. 

The conservancy says it welcomes the march, but protestors must adhere to the same restrictions that apply to other groups that use the riverfront.

The ACLU had charged the conservancy was violating the First Amendment by preventing people from holding protests. The conservancy denied the charge.

The ACLU said a security guard ordered Women in Black to stop an anti-war march along the Detroit RiverWalk last summer. The ACLU said that that violated the free speech rights of the Women in Black, and it asked the conservancy to change its policy.

The conservancy said its restrictions on organized activities, such as protests, are reasonable.

"The Detroit RiverFront Conservancy welcomes the Women in Black for its march this weekend along the Detroit RiverWalk," conservancy officials said in a statement.

"The Conservancy has established reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on organized activities to facilitate such activities while also protecting and promoting use of the RiverWalk by the public and respecting the interests of the owners of privately-owned portions of the RiverWalk consistent with the rights granted to the Conservancy by those private owners," the conservancy said.

"The Conservancy’s time, place and manner restrictions and the related procedures apply equally to political advocacy, consistent with First Amendment jurisprudence," the group said.

The ACLU in its letter had argued that "the protection of political speech is at its zenith when it takes place in public parks and on public sidewalks."

The protesters are meeting at Rivard Plaza, off Atwater and between Rivard and Riopelle, near the carousel. 

During the aborted march, Women in Black members were stopped when they began to walk in a silent march along the RiverWalk with signs and a large puppet protesting war and violence in the Middle East and at home.