The UARC contends that a county ordinance requiring demonstrators - or even just one protester - to apply for a permit a month before an event is a violation of their constitutional rights.

"Defendants can not require a thirty (30) day advance permit for a free speech activity on a designated public forum when it is small (six people or less), creates no need for advance planning by the county and does not cause a need for the availability or expenditure of unusual government resources," the organization says in a lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court.

The suit was filed as part of a settlement in an earlier legal action by the UARC against Salt Lake County.

The dispute began on Dec. 7, when UARC members Aaron Lee and Peter Tucker handed out literature protesting the fur trade to people leaving a concert at Abravanel Hall in downtown Salt Lake City.

The men say security officer Sherida Holgate told them the area in front of the hall was not public property and threatened to arrest them. Lee and Tucker say they moved to the sidewalk but again were warned they would be arrested.

The UARC and the men filed suit later that week seeking a judge's order allowing them to demonstrate on the sidewalks and in the areas outside public facilities on the block that includes the Salt Palace and Abravanel Hall.

In the settlement, the county acknowledged that protestors have the right to engage in free speech activities in public areas. In addition, it agreed to pay $500 each to Lee, Tucker and the UARC and $10,000 to their attorneys.

The settlement also included a provision that the animal-rights advocates could file an amended lawsuit to challenge the 30-day application period for demonstrations. That suit is pending.

pmanson@sltrib.com