TRI In The News
Street Performers Can Sell Wares Until Ruling
9/27/2011
TRI IN THE NEWS: STREET PERFORMERS CAN SELL WARES UNTIL RULING
From Delmarva Now
Original article available here.
OCEAN CITY -- Street performers are allowed to sell their wares on the Boardwalk without registering with Ocean City officials until the outcome of a First Amendment trial pitting a spray paint artist against the town is settled in federal court.
Performers are not, however, allowed to perform in the area of North Division Street, an area Town Council put off limits to all buskers for safety reasons in June.
In Baltimore on Friday, U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander enjoined the resort from enforcing restrictions on the sale of "expressive material" by street performers.
The same goes for enforcing a requirement that street performers register with the town to perform on the planks, according to a press release from the Virginia-based Rutherford Institute, a free speech advocacy group who are representing spray painting plaintiff Mark Chase.
Chase filed a suit against the city in July alleging the town was violating his First Amendment rights by restricting the areas of the boards where he and others were allowed to perform.
Hollander opined the resort had not shown a compelling reason for forbidding Chase from selling his work on the Boardwalk.
Her ruling will stand until a trial takes place, which could take between six months and a year, Chase said.
"It's kind of one of those euphoric moments you have," Chase said in an interview from Anne Arundel County, where he drives a school bus to supplement his painting income. He plans to make the most of the next couple of weeks in town before dropping temperatures drive tourists away from the Boardwalk, he said.
City Solicitor Guy R. Ayres III said the town's main worry with Hollander's order is with her quashing of the busker registration rules.
"There's some concern because we oughta know who's up there," said Ayres, referring to a previous incident when a street performer in costume allegedly inappropriately touched a child.
The resort is happy the performers are still forbidden from performing at North Division Street, Ayres said, adding the order to allow them to set a price and sell their work wasn't much of a "major issue."
