INDIANAPOLIS — New rules aimed at limiting the number of protesters who can enter the Indiana Statehouse are coming under scrutiny by civil liberties’ lawyers who want to know if the new restrictions are constitutional.
Ken Falk, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Indiana, said the new rules raise issues about limits on free-speech rights that are protected by the Constitution and upheld by court rulings.
“There are a lot of questions about how the rules were made and how they’ll be enforced,” Falk said. “We’re looking into it.”
The new rules, imposed as a contentious legislative session begins, cap the number of people allowed into the Statehouse, restrict them from gathering in hallways outside the legislative chambers, and prohibit them from making a “disruptive” level of noise.
The rules cap the number of people allowed in the Statehouse at 3,000, but about 1,500 of those people are state employees, legislators and lobbyists who have state-issued badges that allow them access into the building. That means only about 1,500 members of the general public will be allowed to enter the Statehouse each day under the new rules.
The new rules also include a ban on visitors bringing in glass bottles and cans of soda. On Tuesday, the Indiana State Police confiscated an unopened can of Dr Pepper that was in the lunch bag of a Franklin College student intern who works in the Statehouse.
When asked about the incident at a press conference Tuesday, Indiana Department of Administration Commissioner Rob Wynkoop said the Dr Pepper was “potentially dangerous.”
The new rules don’t include a ban on Dr Pepper or other soda sold in cans in vending machines in the Statehouse, but they are sweeping in nature.
They include a ban on visitors bringing in signs larger than 2 feet by 2 feet, prohibit signs that are attached to sticks, and forbid the use of bullhorns or other devices used to amplify sound. The new rules also forbid visitors from gathering in the hallways outside the glass windows that line the back walls of the House and Senate.
All were commonly used by union protesters who filled the Statehouse during the 2011 session.
Wynkoop said Tuesday that the rules were developed to protect public safety and not intended to quell protests. “We are not doing this to keep people out,” Wynkoop said.
Falk said the courts have allowed government units to impose limits on free speech, but the limits must be “narrowly tailored” and must be applied in a “content-neutral” way.
That means the rules must be applied to all Statehouse visitors, Falk said, and not just the ones who might be voicing opposition to bills supported by the Republican-controlled legislature.
Indiana State Police Capt. Dave Bursten said the ISP would apply the rules in a “reasonable manner” and would abide by the “spirit of the law” rather than the exact letter of the law.
Bursten and Wynkoop faced a slew of questions from angry reporters who have questioned how the new rules would be enforced and noticed other changes inside the building. At least one elevator that was open to the public last week has been designated for use by legislators only.
Wynkoop said the new rules were developed after safety concerns arose after the last session, when up to 2,000 or more protesters entered the Statehouse to loudly protest what they saw as anti-labor legislation. He said there were concerns that a large crowd could not be quickly evacuated from the building in the event of an emergency.
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