12/16/2013
Fellow Attorneys and Current Law Students:
The East Lansing Disorderly Person Ordinance makes it illegal to "be or remain on public property or the unenclosed private property of another within 300 feet of a structure fire, vehicle fire, or open fire, except persons attempting to put out or contain the fire prior to the arrival of firefighting personnel, firefighters, police officers, or other emergency personnel discharging their duties as such, or other persons given express permission to remain by the fire incident commander or on-site supervisor of the police department."
I am considering bringing forth a Constitutional challenge to this ordinance, as I believe it violates Due Process in that it deprives a person of their right to peaceful assembly without being narrowly tailored or the least restrictive means for achieving the interest of protecting public safety. The plain language of the ordinance makes it illegal for one to simply be within a football field radius of a fire, even if they have no knowledge of the fire or if they are attempting to get away from the fire.
Since this would be a pretty significant undertaking, I want to make sure I have thought this argument through as much as I can and as such, I would like to open a discussion about it. If anybody has any thoughts or anything to add, please do so.