The preliminary plan for the 2004 Democratic National Convention was criticized by the National Lawyers Guild and the ACLU of Massachusetts as being insufficient to handle the size of the expected protest . " The zone would hold as few as 400 of the several thousand protesters who are expected in Boston in late July . " In 1939 , the United States Supreme Court found in '' Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization '' that public streets and parks " have immemorially been held in trust for the use of the public and , time out of mind , have been used for purposes of assembly , communicating thoughts between citizens , and discussing public questions . " In the later '' Thornhill v. Alabama '' case , the court found that picketing and marching in public areas is protected by the United States Constitution as free speech . However , subsequent rulings – '' Edwards v. South Carolina '' , '' Brown v. Louisiana '' , '' Cox v. Louisiana '' , and '' Adderley v. Florida '' – found that picketing is afforded less protection than pure speech due to the physical externalities it creates . Regulations on demonstrations may affect the time , place , and manner of those demonstrations , but may not discriminate based on the content of the demonstration
2004 Democratic National Convention
2004 Democratic National Convention
Free speech zone