The Green Party of the United States has filed a lawsuit against the city of Davenport and DavenportOne, complaining that its members were prevented from collecting petitions for a presidential candidate at last year's Bix Street Fest.

A lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court on Friday, says three Green Party members tried to gather signatures last July 25 and 26 at the Street Fest so Cynthia McKinney could be on the Iowa presidential ballot.

Representatives of DavenportOne, which manages the street festival, prevented the three from gathering signatures, even calling the police to stop them, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, which lists the city, its police department and DavenportOne as defendants, was filed on behalf of Jill Bussiere and Monte LeTourneau, both Wisconsin residents, as well as the national and Wisconsin and Iowa Green parties. The suit alleges the city and DavenportOne violated the plaintiffs' First Amendment rights to petition.

The suit noted that a 1999 lawsuit had been filed in a similar circumstance against a downtown organization, which has since been absorbed by DavenportOne.

In that case, a couple was prevented from distributing pro-marijuana fliers. The pair, from Davenport, sued. According to the lawsuit filed Friday, the city agreed then it had no right to prevent people from "peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights."

The agreement was signed in 1999 and expired after five years, the lawsuit said.

The suit asks that a permanent injunction be issued to prevent future occurrences at the street festival or similar events in Davenport. It also asks for attorney's fees and court costs.

The plaintiffs have retained an ACLU Foundation of Iowa attorney to assist with the lawsuit.

A Davenport police spokesman referred questions about the lawsuit to the city's legal department.