Sgt. Abe the Honest Recruiter takes a look at the Enlistment Agreement of the US Armed Forces.

One Sky from Columbia, MO USA North America


Image by Lorri37
One Sky
Columbia, MO USA
North America
Oct. 1, 2005
07:08:50 AM CT (GMT -6hrs)

And in our local newspaper, The Columbia Daily Tribune:

www.showmenews.com/2005/Oct/20051001News008.asp

Columbia suit over air show argued at MU
First Amendment claim made in federal case.

By MATTHEW LeBLANC of the Tribune’s staff
Published Saturday, October 1, 2005

The First Amendment should protect the city of Columbia and organizers of the annual Salute to Veterans Airshow from antiwar protesters and petitioners seeking to spread their messages at the Columbia Regional Airport, a lawyer argued yesterday.

Dale Doerhoff, an attorney for air show organizer Salute to Veterans Corp., told U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey that the tarmac where the event is showcased is not a "designated public forum" where all speech must be accepted.

"It has never been used for that purpose," Doerhoff said. "They just can’t take over our place with their arguments."

A dispute over rights to hand out leaflets, protest and circulate petitions began during the 2004 show on Memorial Day weekend, when police told Columbia residents Bill Wickersham and Maureen Doyle to stop their activities.

Doyle was handing out antiwar leaflets when a Columbia police officer warned her she could be arrested and confiscated her fliers. Wickersham was handcuffed and led off the tarmac when he refused to stop collecting signatures on a petition. The two filed a lawsuit in March against the city and Salute to Veterans Corp., alleging that because the event was held on city land, their First Amendment rights were violated.

Doerhoff’s comments came during arguments in the case yesterday in a courtroom at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law. The Jefferson City-based lawyer argued that protesters have a right to voice their opinions at the airport – just not during the air show.

"I’m pretty confident, in terms of the law," Doerhoff said. "We think our rules are reasonable."

Salute to Veterans has organized Memorial Day celebrations in Columbia since 1989, according to the group’s Web site. The first air show was held in 1991, with organizers banning protesters, leaflets and petitions at the event.

Laughrey issued a preliminary injunction in May that allowed leafleting and protesting but not petitioning during this year’s show. The ruling also allowed Salute to Veterans to ban leafleting and protesting during "solemn events" intended to recognize those who died in the armed services.

Wickersham and Doyle are asking Laughrey for a permanent injunction allowing protests and leafleting at future air shows.

Marilyn Teitelbaum, a St. Louis attorney who represent the plaintiffs on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, argued that the air show rules are inconsistent. She said organizers allowed pro-military speech and recruiters to roam freely at the air show.

Rules banning protesters are about quashing dissenting speech, she said.

"This is a case that involves quintessential First Amendment rights," Teitelbaum said. "They have let all the branches of the military speak. Nobody can go to that air show and see and feel what’s going on and not feel the pro-military theme."

Protesters at this year’s air show had signs, black coffins depicting war dead and bloody banners near the entrance to the show.

Laughrey listened to arguments from Teitelbaum, Doerhoff and the city’s attorney, Robert Krehbiel, for more than an hour yesterday. She interrupted the attorneys periodically to ask questions about case law but did not indicate which way she would rule. She also explained portions of the proceeding to a class seated at the back of the courtroom.

It remains unclear when the judge will decide the case.

Reach Matthew LeBlanc at (573) 815-1720 or mleblanc@tribmail.com.

Originally posted 2010-10-08 18:43:43. Go Home page

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