Graham protest rules could face legal challenge thetimesnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thetimesnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
“We truly want the ACLU’s feedback on this,” Raleigh lawyer Anthony Biller told the Graham City Council at its January meeting.
Elizabeth Haddix, managing attorney with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law represented the Alamance NAACP in its successful suit against the city over its old restrictive protest rules. She told the Times-News the NAACP’s legal team contacted the city’s lawyers to tell them the new rules were also unconstitutional, giving the city “a chance to fix it first.”
The new ordinance, which would also apply to parades and big outdoor events on city property, would require a permit for a gathering of 10 or more people or a parade of three or more vehicles. It would also designate a “free-speech zone” on the lawn of City Hall where groups of 25 or fewer could demonstrate without a permit, and would recognize similar zones created in town by other governments like Alamance County.
Two of the lawsuits against the city of Graham, Graham Police Chief Kristy Cole and Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson have merged.
The suits were both filed on Nov. 2 after officers with the Graham Police Department and sheriff s office used pepper spray during the I am Change march to the polls held Oct. 31.
The first lawsuit was filed on behalf of Future Alamance, Sylvester Allen Jr, Dejuana Bigelow and Tabatha Davis. The second lawsuit was filed by Rev. Gregory Drumwright, the lead organizer of the march, in addition to Edith Ann Jones and Justice for the Next Generation.
On Dec. 4, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ruled that the cases should be consolidated. Both lawsuits stemmed from the same event, and the court ruled they examine a common question of law.