[Peace-discuss] Fwd: StopWTORound] Appeal of ruling against WTO protests

[Al Kagan]

>Date: Sat, 28 Dec 2002 11:45:18 +0400
>From: "Fiona Hunt" <Fiona.Hunt at zu.ac.ae>
>To: "<"<mai-list at moon.bcpl.gov.bc.ca>
>Subject: StopWTORound] Appeal of ruling against WTO protests
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>--- Forwarded message: ---From: "Phil Bereano"
><phil at uwtc.washington.edu>
>Delivered-To: mailing list StopWTORound at yahoogroups.com
>Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2002 21:56:02 -0800
>Subject: [StopWTORound] Appeal of ruling against WTO protests
>
>
>ACLU To Appeal Ruling on WTO
>"No Protest Zone"
>
>The ACLU is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals to review an unfavorable
>ruling in our challenge to the City of Seattle's WTO "no protest
>zone."  In late October, U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Rothstein
>ruled that the City's imposition and enforcement of a no protest zone
>covering a large area of downtown did not violate the Constitution.
>The judge found that the City's "manifest purpose" in setting up the
>no
>protest zone was to protect saftey, not to quell speech.
>
>"We will show the appeals court that the City's action was expressly
>designed to restrict lawful freedom of speech.  We will show that it
>further violated the Constitution because enforcement of the zone was
>not content neutral.  Police barred peaceful protesters from the core
>of the city while allowing business owners, workers, shoppers, and
>residents to enter the area," said ACLU Legal Program Director Julya
>Hampton.  "People have a right to express their political views
>peacefully, even in the challenging times of mass demonstrations,"
>added Hampton.
>
>On December 1, 1999 - the second day of the WTO meeting in Seattle -
>Mayor Schell issued an emergency order establishing a militarized 25-
>block zone in which all expressions of protest against the WTO were
>banned.   In March, 2000 the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of seven
>people who were silenced or forced out of the no protest zone solely
>because they had anti-WTO cartoons, buttons, stickers, or signs.  In
>August, 2000 three plaintiffs accepted offers of judgment from the
>City and received $5,000 each.
>
>The suit is proceeding on behalf of four plaintiffs with the goal of
>obtaining a ruling that the City overstepped its authority.
>Plaintiffs
>include Victor Menotti, a credentialed delegate to the WTO meetings
>who
>was arrested for speaking to others on the street about his concerns
>over proceedings inside the conference hall.  Other plaintiffs include
>a person whose sign reading "I Have a Right to Non-Violent Protest"
>was
>confiscated by police, an individual prevented by police from
>distributing copies of the First Amendment, and a person arrested
>while
>handing out copies of a New York Times editorial cartoon.
>
>"Our plaintiffs in no way constituted a threat to public safety.  The
>City's action suppressed the free speech rights of the great mass of
>peaceful demonstrators and lumped them together with a small number
>who
>committed acts of violence," said the ACLU's Julya Hampton.
>
>Cooperating attorney James Lobsenz and ACLU staff attorney Aaron
>Caplan
>are handling the case.
>
>
>**********************************************
>Philip L. Bereano
>Professor
>Department of Technical Communication
>University of Washington
>Seattle, Wash 98144 USA
>
>ph: (206) 543-9037
>fx: (206) 543-8858
>
>phil at uwtc.washington.edu
>**********************************************
>
>
>
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-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu