Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence

Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence
Argued March 21, 1984
Decided June 29, 1984
Full case nameWilliam P. Clark, Jr., Secretary of the Interior, et al. v. Community for Creative Non-Violence, et al.
Citations468 U.S. 288 (more)
104 S. Ct. 3065; 82 L. Ed. 2d 221; 1984 U.S. LEXIS 136; 52 U.S.L.W. 4986
ArgumentOral argument
Case history
PriorCommunity for Creative Non-Violence v. Watt, 703 F.2d 586 (D.C. Cir. 1983); cert. granted, 464 U.S. 812 (1983).
Holding
A rule against camping or overnight sleeping in public parks is not beyond the constitutional power of the Government to enforce
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan Jr. · Byron White
Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
Lewis F. Powell Jr. · William Rehnquist
John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor
Case opinions
MajorityWhite, joined by Burger, Blackmun, Powell, Rehnquist, Stevens, O'Connor
ConcurrenceBurger
DissentMarshall, joined by Brennan
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. I

Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence, 468 U.S. 288 (1984), is a United States Supreme Court case with the National Park Service's regulation which specifically prohibited sleeping in Lafayette Park and the National Mall at issue. The Community for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV) group had planned to hold a demonstration on the National Mall and Lafayette Park where they would erect tent cities to raise awareness of the situation of the homeless. The group obtained the correct permits for a seven-day demonstration starting on the first day of winter. The Park Service however denied the request that participants be able to sleep in the tents. The CCNV challenged this regulation on the basis that it violated their First Amendment right.