Davenport, Iowa, holds an annual street fair, the Bix Street Fair. At the 2008 street fair, police refused to let Green Party petitioners collect signatures to get Cynthia McKinney on the ballot. The ACLU brought a lawsuit against this policy on June 26, 2009. On December 8, 2009, the city acknowledged that it had been mistaken, and promised to take steps so that its police officers know about the policy.
The city had earlier believed that it could and should prevent petitioning, because the street fair is technically run by a private organization, but the fair is on public property. The case is Bussiere v Davenport, 3:09-cv-101, U.S. District Court, southern district. This case was handled by the ACLU.
Thanks for posting this. Last summer several petitioners for Cynthia McKinney were told to leave a concert area in a Brooklyn city park. The recent court decision decision suggests we might have grounds to challenge this policy.