BB, it is the City of Denver and law enforcement who are dictating the Free Speech Zone, NOT the Democrats:

The ACLU is pushing ahead with new legal challenges to the city of Denver's planned map for demonstrations at the Democratic National Convention next month, saying protesters will be penned too far from delegates and the arena. and,

Denver officials and the Secret Service say they are balancing the free speech and assembly rights of the demonstrators against safety concerns for the delegates and others at the Convention, the paper reports.

I find the whole thing absurd, as if free speech in OUR country can be delegated to only certain areas. Geo. Washington and the rest must be turning over in their graves. Are we so frightened of one another and controversy, we have to have a non-event convention? What happened to debates of fiery passion, hashing out party platform AND coming down to the wire as to who would win the nomination, etc? Bah!

Free Speech Zones=free speech concentration camps=no democracy!