Complaint in Weiset et al v. Casper et al: http://www.aclu.org/FreeSpeech/FreeSpeech.cfm?ID=19427&c=42ACLU Files Lawsuit in Case of Denver Residents Blocked from Bush Event Because of Bumper Sticker November 21, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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[email protected] DENVER -- White House event staffers unlawfully removed two Denver residents from a town hall discussion with President Bush because of an anti-war bumper sticker on their car, charged the American Civil Liberties Union in a federal lawsuit filed today.
“The government should not be in the business of silencing Americans who are perceived to be critical of certain policy decisions,” said ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Chris Hansen, who is the lead counsel in this case. “The president should be willing to be in the same room with people who might disagree with him, especially at a public, taxpayer-funded town hall.”
Today’s lawsuit was filed on behalf of Leslie Weise and Alex Young, who gained national attention after being removed from a March 21 event with President Bush. The presidential visit was open to the public and advertised as a town hall “conversation” on Social Security reform. But the ACLU lawsuit charges that Weise and Young, who had obtained tickets from the office of Representative Bob Beauprez and had caused no disruption at the town hall, were removed from the event solely because of their perceived political views.
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“We believe that our clients were expelled from this public meeting on the basis of a policy formulated in Washington and implemented throughout the country,” said Mark Silverstein, Legal Director of the ACLU of Colorado. “This case is not just about two people, it is about protecting the rights and liberties of every single American.”
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http://www.aclu.org/FreeSpeech/FreeSpeech.cfm?ID=19429&c=42 ACLU plans suit over removal of dissidents from Bush appearanceNovember 21, 2005
DENVER --The American Civil Liberties Union said Monday it will file a lawsuit on behalf of two people who were removed from an appearance by President Bush because they arrived in a car with a bumper sticker reading "No more blood for oil" and wearing T-shirts saying "Stop the lies" under other clothes.
The lawsuit alleges that Leslie Weise and Alex Young were escorted from the March 21 meeting because of "a White House policy prohibiting people from attending this public event if they held a viewpoint other than that of the president," the ACLU's Colorado chapter said in a news release.
Defendants will be two Denver residents and five unidentified White House staffers, the release said.
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"We will be highlighting the pattern of incidents ... to show that this was a concerted White House policy of violating the First Amendment rights of citizens," the ACLU said in a news release.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2005/11/21/aclu_plans_suit_over_removal_of_dissidents_from_bush_appearance/ N.H. incident part of anti-Bush lawsuitDENVER The American Civil Liberties Union says the White House violated people's rights by kicking them out of appearances by President Bush in New Hampshire and elsewhere because they disagreed with him.
The group is filing a lawsuit today in Denver on behalf of two people it says were removed from a meeting in Denver in March. Another incident named in the lawsuit was at Pease International Tradeport in Portsmouth a month earlier, when the president visited to talk about his plan to revamp Social Security. The A-C-L-U says two women who got into the event wearing sweaters, took them off to reveal T-shirts that said "Turn Your Back on Bush."
The A-C-L-U says its lawsuit will highlight a pattern in states including Arizona, Colorado, North Dakota and New Hampshire.
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=4148314&nav=4QcS