Don't Let GOP Convention Lock Up Our Rights BYLINE: By Christopher Dunn and Donna Lieberman. Christopher Dunn is the associate legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union and Donna Lieberman is the executive director. BODY: Two days ago marked the 1-year anniversary of the huge anti-war demonstration in New York City that was marred first by the city's refusal to allow a march to take place and then by the New York City Police Department's unprecedented crackdown on those seeking to attend the rally near the United Nations. On Feb. 15, 2003, more than 100,000 people were herded into metal "pens" on First Avenue. Tens of thousands of people were prevented from getting to the rally by police barricades blocking streets and sidewalks leading to the rally. Police horses charged into crowds without warning, giving people no opportunity to get out of the way. Six weeks later the New York Civil Liberties Union learned that the NYPD had initiated a secret political-interrogation program. Under that program, which Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly ordered halted only after it became public, the department's intelligence division was interrogating people arrested at the demonstrations about their political affiliations and their prior protest activities, filling out "Demonstrator Debriefing Forms," and entering the information into a database. These events loom large as we approach what will be the single most important test of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's commitment to civil liberties and the First Amendment: the Republican National Convention. Just over six months from now, people from all parts of the country will converge on Madison Square Garden to express their views about President George W. Bush and the Republican Party. And we're not talking about the delegates. Will they be met with respect and cooperation? Or, as happened last February in Manhattan and at the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, will they face aggressive police tactics that thwart lawful and peaceful protest? At this point, there is cause for concern. The right to protest is one of the constitutional cornerstones of American democracy. Many groups have applied for permits but the city has yet to act on any of their applications. While the NYPD has been planning for months, protest groups will be hamstrung until they get their permits. Equally important, the NYPD has refused to disclose whether it will try to create "protest-free" zones in the vicinity of Madison Square Garden that would push demonstrators far from the convention site. If the Bloomberg administration bars rallies from taking place near the Garden or bars marches from going past the Garden, that would seriously undermine the ability of law-abiding protesters to have their message be heard. Also unresolved is the issue of police crowd-control tactics. Blocking streets and sidewalks to restrict access, charging horses into peaceful crowds and confining protesters to "pens" created a disastrous situation last February and cannot be repeated. More troubling is the prospect of even more extreme tactics - such as the armored vehicles and rubber bullets used in November by police in Miami at free-trade demonstrations. Attending a demonstration must not put law-abiding protesters and their children in danger from the police. Nor should the New York City Police Department engage in unconstitutional political surveillance. As revealed by last spring's covert interrogation program, the NYPD has been working hard to expand its political surveillance. Indeed, as the scandal surfaced in the press, the city was demanding that a federal court remove restrictions on its political spying that were put in place in 1985 to address earlier police spying abuses. Given this history and the intense political activity likely to take place in New York City between now and Aug. 30, when the convention begins, there is every reason to be concerned. But the news is not all bad. Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly recently have expressed a commitment to respecting the rights of protesters at the convention. Senior-level NYPD officials have started meeting with protest groups about permit applications and have professed a desire to facilitate protest activity. So far, no permit applications have been denied, and no protest-free zones have been declared. And after last February's debacle, the city did turn around, allowing a huge anti-war march down Broadway. Now is the time for the mayor to get personally involved in how the city handles protest activity at the Republican National Convention. Soon the whole world will be watching. The mayor needs to make sure that protesters outside the Garden will be accorded the same respect as the Republicans inside.