Case: 1:19-cv-06213 Document #: 54 Filed: 02/20/20 Page 1 of 32 PageID #:1067
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION MATT SWART, et al., Plaintiffs,
Case No. 19-cv-6213
v. Judge John Robert Blakey CITY OF CHICAGO, Defendant. MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER This case centers around Millennium Park, a beloved public park and major tourist attraction for the City of Chicago. The City views the Park as a unique space— one that showcases world-class art, music, architecture, and landscape design. Accordingly, the City enacted restrictions it claims protects the Park’s aesthetic integrity. Despite these good intentions, however, the City’s restrictions prohibit reasonable forms of expression in large areas of the Park. As a result, Plaintiffs Matt Swart, Jeremy Chong, Gabriel Emerson, and Caeden Hood sued the City, claiming the City’s restrictions violate their First Amendment rights to evangelize and disseminate religious literature. Intervenors Elizabeth Norden, Tyler Brumfield, Doris Davenport, and William Morgan also challenge the restrictions, claiming that the restrictions unconstitutionally limit their right to circulate petitions in the Park.
1