New Ordinance Protects Street Performers in Somerville
With the new ordinance, "An officer can't come up to me and tell me I don't have a permit and you cannot play," said Roger Nicholson, a street musician.
A new ordinance, approved by the Somerville Board of Aldermen Thursday, affirms the rights of musicians, jugglers, magicians, actors, dancers and other artists to conduct street performances in the city. The ordinance passed after spending nearly seven months in the Board of Aldermen's Legislative Matters Committee. Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz, who sponsored the new ordinance, had expressed concern that the previous ordinance governing street performances, which "was put on the books many years ago," was outdated and possibly in violation of First Amendment rights protected by the U.S. Constitution. The old ordinance said, No meeting shall be held and no person shall deliver a sermon, lecture, address or discourse, or shall sing or …
In this Article:
Adam Friedman
12:56 pm on Saturday, May 11, 2013
This is a basic First Amendment Constitutional guarantee and a core component of what it means to be an American -- nothing less. I applaud Alderwoman Gewirtz for using her common sense and patriotism to protect this sacred human right and to clear out the old language -- which was so blatantly unconstitutional. A few bad musicians floating around the square is an insignificant price to pay for … more ›