On December 17, 2014, two street musicians filed this lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the City of Saugatuck, Michigan. The plaintiffs, represented by the ACLU, sought injunctive relief and compensatory damages, claiming that the City's application of the Saugatuck Public Entertainment Ordinance (Ordinance) to the plaintiffs was unconstitutional. Specifically, the plaintiffs claimed that criminalizing the act of playing music on a public sidewalk without a permit is a prior restraint on expression that violates the First Amendment. The plaintiffs also claimed that the Ordinance violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, as it does not provide them with fair notice that the Ordinance, which prohibits performances on the streets of Saugatuck without a permit, applies to individual street musicians.

On March 27, 2015, upon stipulation and consent of the parties, the Court (Judge Robert J. Jonker) entered an order:

• Permanently enjoining the City from enforcing the Public Entertainment Ordinance against the plaintiffs and other individual street performers who wish to perform on the public sidewalks in Saugatuck, including against individual street performers who accept tips from passersby;
• Permanently enjoining the City from requiring the plaintiffs or other individual street performers to obtain a permit if they wish to perform on the public sidewalks in Saugatuck;
• Awarding each plaintiff $7,500; and
• Reserving for resolution between the parties the issue of attorneys' fees to be paid to the plaintiffs.

On May 26, 2015, the Court entered an order granting the plaintiffs an extension until June 2, 2015 to file a motion for attorneys' fees and costs. On June 17, 2015, Judge Jonker ordered the defendants to pay attorneys’ fees and costs of $30,000 to the ACLU. The case is now closed.

Robert Lake - 06/01/2015
Rachel Carpman - 10/25/2018


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