Time: Sun May 25 04:58:24 1997
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Date: Sun, 25 May 1997 04:51:05 -0700
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From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: L&J: Score One for the Good Guys! (fwd)
<snip>
>
>Florida Libertarian is victorious in free-speech lawsuit
>
>WASHINGTON, DC -- A Libertarian Party member has won a $25,000 settlement
>against the city of Orlando, Florida for violating his First Amendment
>rights.
>
>Hal Noyes accepted the settlement on May 1st -- two months after filing
>a lawsuit against the city, in which he charged that his arrest for
>distributing Libertarian leaflets in a public park was unconstitutional.
>
>"This settlement is one small triumph for the First Amendment," said Florida
>LP Chairman Nick Dunbar. "This should be a lesson to authorities who try to
>violate individuals' rights to disseminate their political views in a
>peaceful manner."
>
>Noyes' ordeal began in September 1995 when he was peacefully handing out LP
>literature in Orlando's Lake Eola Park. Noyes said he was standing off the
>sidewalk and politely offering leaflets about "Operation Safe Streets" --
>an LP crime control policy proposal -- to passers-by.
>
>"No one contends that Mr. Noyes was acting in an unsafe or disruptive way,"
>noted the local newspaper, the Orlando Sentinel, in an editorial on March 22,
>1997. "Nothing indicates that Mr. Noyes was harassing anyone or creating any
>kind of disturbance, other than trying to pass out flyers to anyone
>interested."
>
>The police didn't agree. An officer told Noyes that he was a "threat to
>public order," and commanded him to leave. Noyes responded that his actions
>were protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
>
>"That seemed to confuse the officer further, forcing him to seek help from
>a park ranger who also seemed unfamiliar with the right of free speech,"
>wrote the Sentinel. "But it didn't stop there."
>
>When Noyes asked the officers under what authority they were telling him to
>stop distributing literature, the policeman responded that the public park
>was "private property owned by the city of Orlando."
>
>At that point, Noyes was charged with trespassing, handcuffed, and
>taken to the Orange County Jail. He spent seven hours behind bars.
>
>A month later, the charges were dropped and the city announced that
>"prosecution was unnecessary." The police department later explained that
>Noyes was arrested because he was in a section of the park reserved for an
>anti-crime march.
>
>However, the Sentinel took a dim view of that excuse, noting, "The city is
>now clinging to the defense that Mr. Noyes was in a part of the park reserved
>by an anti-crime march -- as if the assembly prevented the distribution of
>constitutionally protected literature. Mr. Noyes' arrest would be funny if
>it weren't so absurd."
>
>The newspaper also commented on the irony that Noyes was arrested while
>handing out literature that explained the Libertarian Party's position on
>crime -- "that it can be controlled without trampling on people's rights."
>
>In March 1997, Noyes filed a lawsuit in federal court, seeking unspecified
>damages. The Sentinel applauded the lawsuit in an editorial, writing:
>"[Noyes] wants to send the city a clear message. The message should be
>this: Read the U.S. Constitution."
>
>Apparently realizing that Noyes did have the Constitution on his side,
>Orlando city officials offered the $25,000 settlement, which Noyes accepted.
>The arresting officer also received an oral reprimand by the police
department
>for his handling of the case -- the lightest possible punishment.
>
>Commenting on the settlement, Dunbar said: "I only regret that it is the
>taxpayers who will pay the $25,000. I believe the arresting officers should
>be personally liable."
>
>Noyes, 51, is a computer programmer in Orlando. He has a long history of
>political activism, dating back to the 1960s.
> # # #
>
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>
>
========================================================================
Paul Andrew, Mitchell, B.A., M.S. : Counselor at Law, federal witness
email: [address in tool bar] : Eudora Pro 3.0.1 on Intel 586 CPU
web site: http://www.supremelaw.com : library & law school registration
ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best
Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone
Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this
========================================================================
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