Cleveland has been under a curfew since Saturday, when protests against the police brutality in Minneapolis that led to the death of George Floyd, turned violent.
The curfew restricts activity from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the Central Business District and the W. 25th Market District and is in effect until tomorrow, at this point.
Joe Mead specializes in constitutional issues at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and works with the ACLU of Ohio. He calls the city’s curfew too restrictive.
“I think there’s a pretty significant problem with the curfew as applied to everybody. So the fact that it restricted, it effectively restricted protests and media activity, and it prevented the movement of people to the downtown area. I think it was too broad of a set of restrictions.”
Mead says the curfew unnecessarily prevents First Amendment activity and doesn’t actually address legitimate safety concerns.
The city has not announced whether it will extend the curfew beyond tomorrow.
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