The Denver Post had an editorial today, "Don't forestall political protest." Basically the editors ask that the security in Denver at the Democratic National Convention forgo the fences this next year:

Denver officials need to be very careful about trampling on the rights of dissenters. Their right to express themselves outside the convention is just as important as the rights of those inside.

When Democrats convened in Boston in 2004, protesters were confined to a fenced-in area topped with razor wire. At the Republican National Convention in New York, there were no cages, but more than 1,800 people were arrested and held for days without arraignment or access to a lawyer.

This seems to be a growing concern not only among the protesters themselves but the police and the media, usually members of the liberal media: Will the rights of protesters be protected? The St. Paul police has pledged that there will be no fences at the Republican National Convention, and everyone seems to be happy with that, though not everyone is convinced.

Politically, Denver seems to be similar, if not even a little more liberal than St. Paul. I'm surprised, since the DNCC seems to be so far along in their planning, that the police haven't also progressed and officially declared Denver, a no-fence, free-speech zone.