A federal judge in Minneapolis handed antiwar demonstrators a setback Wednesday, upholding the terms of a demonstration permit issued by the St. Paul Police Department for an antiwar march at the Republican National Convention.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen rejected virtually every argument made by attorneys for the protest group. The group had sought a route for the Sept. 1 march that would come close to encircling the Xcel Energy Center and a schedule that would have continued later into the day so that delegates arriving for an evening session would see the demonstrators.

Jessica Sundin, a spokeswoman for the protest coalition, said that the group wanted to appeal the ruling but that its lawyers would have to decide whether there was a legal basis. An appeal would go before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Police are allowing the protesters to march from noon to 4 p.m., but they must clear the area near the Xcel by 3 p.m.

Sundin said the time frame police have allowed for the march is insufficient to complete it.

"I think there's a chance of a confrontation with police when it's 2 or 3 o'clock and there are still tens of thousands of people trying to get to the Xcel," she said.

Teresa Nelson, staff counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, which backs the coalition and worked on the lawsuit, said her organization was disappointed by Ericksen's ruling.

"This decision, to a certain extent, weakens the First Amendment," Nelson said. She added that by not allowing enough time to march, it could lead to police blocking marchers from reaching the Xcel, setting off a confrontation.

However, Tom Walsh, a Police Department spokesman, hailed Ericksen's decision.

"It's an affirmation of what we have been saying all along, which is that the city has been making every effort to provide both a safe and secure event for everyone as well accommodate expression of First Amendment rights," he said.

"We are still open for discussion with every and all groups who might want to take part in the event -- the convention itself -- whether they are on one side of the political spectrum or the other."

St. Paul city attorney John Choi said Ericksen's decision validated all the planning by police over the past two years. "What I think is very notable about [the decision] was that it rejected all of the plaintiff's allegations," he said.

Challenges called daunting

Citing past court decisions, Ericksen adopted the view of the police and city of St. Paul that they were granting unprecedented access to the protesters for a convention of a major political party. She rejected the notion that the group's free speech rights were violated.

She also noted that the coalition's request for march times had "varied significantly." She wrote that the group first sought a permit to march from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., amended the application to start at 2 p.m., ending at an unknown time, and later asked the St. Paul City Council for a 4-hour march period.

The Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War first applied for a permit in October 2006 to march on the first day of the four-day convention. The group eventually received a permit from the police on May 16 of this year.

Since then, the police have agreed to slight changes in the route, and under the current terms of the permit protesters will be allowed to march on the convention, starting at the State Capitol, from noon to 4 p.m., but it must clear a small intersection across the street from the Xcel Center by 3 p.m.

The coalition wanted the march to pass by both sides of the Xcel Center and to start later, so that activists from other cities could participate and so that delegates arriving for the evening session would see them.

Ericksen said in her opinion that the march would come within 84 feet of the Xcel, passing near media tents so reporters would see the protesters.

She also said that police were willing to accommodate the coalition's demonstration if there was a morning or early afternoon session.

She said that the presence of high-ranking officials, including the president and vice president, and a substantial number of people presents "daunting security challenges. Threats to the convention that the Secret Service must consider include terrorist attacks, lone gunmen, fire, chemical or biological attacks, detonation of explosive devices and suicide bombers. In addition, many groups have endorsed a call to shut down the RNC by blocking the convention site, immobilizing delegates' transportation and blocking bridges that connect St. Paul and Minneapolis."

She said the city and police "have a substantial interest in securing the area immediately surrounding the convention site. ... By preventing encirclement of the convention site, the denial of the coalition's application minimizes the potential for a blockade."

Ericksen was nominated in 2002 by President Bush to be a federal judge and was viewed as a moderate. At the time, Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone described her as a "gifted and able jurist" who has the "experience, sense of justice and good judgment to do well as a federal judge."

Randy Furst • 612-673-7382