From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 22:19:31 EST
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [pttp] [IACenter] Status of Jan. 20 demo
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 20:44:17 -0500
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Status of Jan. 20 demo
BULLETIN FROM THE INTERNATIONAL ACTION
CENTER (IAC)
JANUARY 17, 2001, 5 PM
Status of January 20 demonstration and our groundbreaking lawsuit for
free speech
Attorneys representing the January 20 Counter-Inaugural protesters are
awaiting word as to when a hearing will be scheduled on their motion
for a preliminary injunction against the "security plan" devised by the
Secret Service, DC police and other agencies for the January 20
inauguration and the demonstration that is scheduled to take place at
the same time.
The lawsuit--"International Action Center, et al, vs. the United States of
America"--is requesting a preliminary injunction and was filed Tuesday,
January 16 at 2:30 pm in the U.S. District Court. The lawsuit is filed
on behalf of the IAC, JAM and other protest groups.
The Complaint, the Motion for a Preliminary Injunction and the attached
Memorandum can be found at the web site of the Partnership for Civil
Justice: www.justiceonline.org (a link to this page can be found on the
IAC web site: www.iacenter.org). The lawsuit seeks to strike down the
announced "security plan" as constitutionally invalid for a number of
reasons (see below). (For the full lawsuit, see www.justiceonline.org.)
We are confident that we will prevail in this historic lawsuit. We should
remember that we had to first overcome the obstinacy of the police,
who did not want to grant us the permit for Freedom Plaza in the first
place. Our legal pressure, the mass mobilization of the people and
intense media scrutiny forced the government to acknowledge that we
indeed do have the legal right to these permits. The lawsuit seeks to
strike down other obstacles and impediments placed in the path of our
being able to conduct a massive legal, lawful and orderly
demonstration.
We have already won a tremendous victory. The world media and as a
consequence people throughout the world now know that the struggle
for free speech is alive and well in Washington DC. Furthermore, a
bright light now shines on the Secret Service, the DC police and the
Bush administration.
Although we do not yet know the outcome of the lawsuit, we do know
that people from all over the United States are paying attention to this
struggle and that we will have the active involvement of many
thousands and the active support of millions who agree with the
demonstration but may not be able to personally attend the activity.
It is of great importance that thousands of people from around the
country are coming to Washington DC on January 20, the first day of
the administration of George W. Bush as the 43rd President, to
demonstrate opposition to his conservative and right-wing policies.
They include Civil Rights organizations, workers' unions, immigrant
rights organizations, women's groups, the lesbian/gay/bi/trans
movement, and those opposed to U.S. military intervention in the Third
World have coalesced into a new progressive movement for social
change.
It is an irony of history that George W. Bush--an unelected, right-wing
politician--upon assuming the presidency, will act as a catalyst--not for
a new conservative era--but on the contrary, for the rebirth of a
progressive movement for social justice.
The January 20 counter-inaugural demonstration is not merely a single
event, but a step in the process towards the rebirth of a new movement
for social justice.
Bush wants to put Confederates in the cabinet, he wants to roll back
workers' rights, affirmative action, Roe v Wade and women's
reproductive rights. He wants to give trillions in tax breaks to the
already wealthy, he wants to build the National Missile Defense, which
is a gigantic subsidy to the military-industrial complex.
George W. Bush's real constituency is Big Oil, the big
pharmaceuticals, the HMOs and the big war contractors. If allowed, he
will fleece the working and poor people in the U.S., for the benefit of the
corporate elite.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE LAWSUIT
The lawsuit was filed by attorneys from the Partnership for Civil Justice
and the National Lawyers Guild on behalf of those who plan to organize
protests at the January 20 inauguration.
Our lawsuit specifically asserts that the government's current security
plan for the January 20 inauguration is "constitutionally invalid."
While the National Parks Service was forced to grant us permits to
rally at Freedom Plaza (14th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. NW), at the
Justice Department (Pennsylvania Ave. between 9th and 10th St. NW),
and at McPherson Square (15th and I St. NW), we believe that the
Secret Service, Metropolitan police and other government agencies are
using the issue of national security as a pretext to inhibit, violate and
subvert our constitutionally-protected guarantees to free speech.
The lawsuit focuses on several issues, including these two:
(1) Access to the inaugural parade route: The government has set up
security check points through which all people entering the parade
route will be filtered. We believe that the system is established to
discriminate against demonstrators who will be denied the access
granted to George W. Bush's financial donors and right-wing
ideological supporters. The police agencies have told the media that
the check points are being established because of the demonstrators.
This clearly demonstrates that the check points are not "neutral" but
are "content" based. The check points are not really for security, but
to restrain the rights of demonstrators to gain access to the parade
route.
(2) "Unfettered discretion" by police agencies: The police agencies
have been calculatingly vague about their rules and conduct regarding
security, check points, what will be permitted and what will not.
Boundaries and parameters keep shifting, as do the explanations given
to the public and to demonstrators by police authorities. This policy of
deliberate vagueness is an undisguised attempt to give police agencies
"unfettered discretion" on January 20 in regard to their behavior towards
demonstrators. On its face, this "unfettered discretion" is a violation of
the demonstrators right to organize and prepare a peaceful and legal
assembly for their demonstration.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court at 2:30 pm on Tuesday,
January 16.
We are in an emergency situation. With only days before the
scheduled inaugural event and our demonstration, it is necessary for
the courts to take urgent action against the "constitutionally invalid"
procedures of the police agencies.
While we are confident that we will win a victory in the courts, we know
that the power is in the people and that thousands and thousands of
people will be coming to Washington at Freedom Plaza and elsewhere.
We are determined to demonstrate. We will never surrender our first
amendment rights. Our movement will grow stronger and stronger in
the coming months and years.
/30
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
web: http://www.iacenter.org
CHECK OUT SITE
http://www.mumia2000.org
phone: 212 633-6646
fax: 212 633-2889
*To make a tax-deductible donation,
go to
http://www.peoplesrightsfund.org
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