Canvassers must register in Pa. suburb

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PITTSBURGH (AP) - A federal judge has refused to overturn an ordinance in a Pittsburgh suburb that requires anyone going door-to-door to register with authorities and carry a permit, including people working for get-out-the-vote campaigns.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued Mount Lebanon four days before Election Day on behalf of the Service Employees International Union, which supported John Kerry's bid for president, and two women who planned to canvass the suburb as part of a get-out-the-vote campaign.

The ACLU argued that the suburb's ordinance violated the canvassers' First Amendment rights and appeared to flout a U.S. Supreme Court ruling two years ago that struck down a similar law in Stratton, Ohio.

But U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab ruled Thursday that the Supreme Court's ruling still allowed some regulation of canvassing and that Mount Lebanon's ordinance was less restrictive than Stratton's.

Schwab also ruled that canvassers hadn't been harmed by the ordinance and had no standing to challenge them.

Stephen Feller, manager of Mount Lebanon, said the judge's decision validated the suburb's ordinance, which was prompted by 10 burglaries over four years.
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/24hour/nation/story/1918320p-9868983c.html

[The Zanti Regent]

1. Schwab is a KKKristian ReKKKonstrukkktionist

He's a real charmer. Goes to the church some of my family attends that is so far to the right it falls off the map!