Charges Dropped Against 2 Bush Protesters

[maddezmom]

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A judge Thursday dismissed trespassing charges against a couple who wore anti-Bush T-shirts at a July 4 rally for the president at the state Capitol because city ordinances do not apply to Statehouse grounds.



Assistant City Attorney Deloris Martin said she advised the judge that the officers had no authority to charge Nicole and Jeff Rank with trespassing under the city's ordinances.


Police removed the Ranks, of Corpus Christi, Texas, after the two removed an outer layer of clothing to reveal T-shirts with the words "Love America, Hate Bush" and Bush's name with a slash through it.


"We certainly did not expect to be arrested for expressing our freedom of expression," Jeff Rank said. He said the couple support Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry (news - web sites).

~snip~
more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=718&e=7&u=/ap/20040715/ap_on_re_us/bush_protest

[shoelace414]

1. charges dropped

So, they still got kicked out.

[judge_smales]

2. I doubt that they can sue

but I'd like to see 'em do it anyway. It'll keep the story in the papers at least.

[progressivebydesign]

20. They were fired from Govenment jobs because of it...

.. they've been told that they no longer have any work for them, and were sent home from D.C. That might be a case?

[judge_smales]

21. Didn't know that.

Then yes, that is defianately injury that could be redressed via civil suit.

[Jack The Tab]

3. This is all part of it...

The whole tactic is not to punish those people for protesting * but to simply get them out of his sight AT THAT MOMENT.

They don't care that the cases get thrown out.

What the ACLU needs to do is to bring some kind of lawsuit against the administration because they are definitely exhibiting a pattern.

[Dudley_DUright]

6. You are exactly correct with your analysis

and I think the ACLU is already well aware of this pattern.

<snip>

OUT OF SIGHT IN ST. LOUIS: If the president didn't see it, did it happen? A favorite tactic of the Bush administration has been to herd protesters at presidential appearances into "designated protest zones," out of sight of his motorcade, and to arrest people who refuse to be moved. The policy, applied only to those with dissenting views, has been used to suppress dissent nationwide, and ACLU lawyers around the country are working to get charges dropped against people arrested for nothing more than wanting to voice their opinion during a presidential visit.

"There is nothing more sacred," said Matt LeMieux, executive director of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri. "Herding dissenters into far-away zones, while supporters are allowed to get within earshot of the president, serves absolutely no purpose other than to suppress certain viewpoints. Free speech rights are simply meaningless if they can only be exercised in an area far away from the intended audience."

<snip>

http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=12666&c=206

[Pale_Rider]

9. Why I'm a card-carrying member ...

... of the ACLU.

Come join me!
https://www.aclu.org/contribute/contribute.cfm?CLR=SAF

[Dudley_DUright]

12. Me too

What a coincidence! :-)

[Dhalgren]

17. Me, too!

[prolesunited]

18. Me four!

And they're going to have to pry it from my cold, dead hands. :-)

[gratuitous]

4. I knew the charges would be dropped

The whole point is to remove protestors at the event. It was done wrongly? Oh well, c'est la vie. You will be allowed to protest "next time."

[el_gato]

5. Those cops should be fired as well

the people in city government who advocated such a policy should be
publicly chased from office.

[judge_smales]

7. Nah, don't fire the foot soldiers

let's find the general who gave the orders!!

[Devils Advocate NZ]

10. Why not? Those police officers broke the law!

They should be charged with wrongful arrest.

[truthspeaker]

13. yep, those cops should have known better

[thebeaglehaslanded]

8. We're losing our freedoms

This misadministration's stifling of basic rights in America has reached huge proportions, but still the sheeple think Chimpy is such a fine leader. When their eyes are finally opened, let's hope it isn't too late and that the thugs haven't stolen the whole thing.

[Samurai_Writer]

11. I wonder if she will get her job back?

Isn't this the lady who works with FEMA who lost her job over protesting against Bush and getting arrested for it?

[Lautremont]

14. They may have been kicked out,

but the message on their t-shirts appeared in papers across the country. It's another hilarious example of rebumblicans screwing themselves despite a manifest lack of genitalia.

[Cha]

16. Oh, Tou-Che!

:D

[Cha]

15. bushco is doing this exactly wrong...if they would have

just let them stay like you do in America..there wouldn't have been any fuss...now look at all the bad publicity this has generated.

[The_Casual_Observer]

19. I would have probably been charged with resisting arrest and worse

as a result of being harrassed like that. And those charges probably would have stuck.

[jayfish]

22. I'm Not So Sure About Those Other Charges Sticking.

Since the initial arrest was unlawful I think you could have a decent chance of getting those dropped as well. I think you would have to look at them as fruit of the poisonous tree. But these days, who knows? :shrug:

Jay

[stickdog]

23. Well, at least the freedom-hating terra'ists have no reason to bother us

anymore.