Free speech restrictions at SteelStacks in Bethlehem may be put to test

A challenge may be mounted to the free speech restrictions at SteelStacks in Bethlehem after opponents heard from an expert today about the restrictions unconstitutionality.

Columbia Law School Professor Mark Barenberg said the provision disallowing labor-related gatherings and any activity offensive to Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem on city-owned property at SteelStacks could be overturned for a multitude of reasons.

Bethlehem officials have said they dont plan to enforce the provision that was included in a deed they signed with Sands to get the land for free. Barenberg told a crowd of 50 gathered at Lehigh University today that theyd have a winning case in either circumstance of the city enforcing or not enforcing the provision.

If the city enforced it, opponents would have a very strong first-amendment lawsuit because of the right to free speech on publicly-owned land, Barenberg said. If the city didnt enforce just one labor-related gathering on the property, it would legally nullify the entire provision, Barenberg said.

If they dont arrest you and throw you off, thats a huge victory, he said.

Lehighs South Side Initiative brought Barenberg to Bethlehem to lead a public forum on the free speech restrictions at SteelStacks. Initiative Director Seth Moglen said he and others have continued to be troubled by the restrictions since they were approved in June 2011.

Members of both the United Steelworkers and the American Civil Liberties Union said they were interested in testing the restrictions following Barenbergs talk. Joe Welsh, an ACLU member from Forks Township, said the groups local chapter has been monitoring the question of free speech at the city-owned land at SteelStacks for some time but needed more legal insight.

We are so grateful for the input and analysis given tonight, Welsh said.

The decision of whether to challenge the restrictions would be made by the state ACLU chapter, he said.

Some Lehigh Valley labor leaders have said theyre not worried about the speech restrictions because they dont think legally enforceable. United Steelworkers Local 2599 President Jerry Green, however, said hes grown more concerned about the restrictions the more he learns about them.

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Free speech restrictions at SteelStacks in Bethlehem may be put to test