(Raleigh, N.C.)
– The city of Graham’s orders preventing groups
of two or more people from protesting without police permission violates the First
Amendment to the Constitution on rights to free speech and assembly, a
coalition of civil rights groups led by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and
the Alamance
County NAACP said today in a lawsuit
and temporary restraining order (here and here). The lawsuit
was filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.
The suit was filed by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, ACLU,
ACLU of North Carolina and Lockamy Law Firm on behalf of Alamance NAACP and 8
individuals.
Graham’s decree prevents groups of two or more people
from protesting without police permission. On June 25, Mayor Jerry Peterman
issued an executive order to
shut down protests near a Confederate monument in Graham’s downtown. North
Carolina civil rights and advocacy groups also will argue that the order places
restrictions on speech in public forums and violates due process.
“The Confederate monument in Graham’s town square represents the racist
past and present these protestors want to speak out against,” said Elizabeth Haddix, managing attorney at the
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “While the community is
trying to reckon with its own racist history in the midst of police violence
against Black citizens across the country and in Alamance County, the Sheriff
and police are restricting the people’s basic rights to protest white
supremacy.”
“Peace
and justice should belong to everyone, everywhere and all the time,” said
Barrett Brown, president of the Alamance branch of NAACP. “The city’s permit
requirement and periodic protest ban violate our most fundamental rights to
peacefully assemble and petition our government for redress.”
“I sought to gather
with others to express support for Black lives, advocate for the removal of the
monument, and for equally representative government, and I was denied that
right.” said Tenae Turner, plaintiff. “It sends a clear message that
racist monuments are valued more highly than Black lives and our constitutional
rights.”
“This ordinance is a sweeping bar to the rights of people to freely assemble
and protest in Graham. People have a constitutional right to gather and voice
their concerns in public areas without fear of arrest, harassment, or
intimidation from law enforcement,” said Kristi Graunke with the ACLU of North
Carolina. “It is appalling that Alamance County officials would trample on the
First Amendment rights of their own constituents for the sake of protecting a
monument to white supremacy.”
“Any mayor, police chief, or governor who imposes such draconian restrictions
on the right to protest should understand that they will be sued,” said Vera
Eidelman, staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology
Project. “The ACLU will hold accountable any government actor who violates the
First Amendment.”
###
About the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. Now in its 55th year, the Lawyers’ Committee is continuing its quest to “Move America Toward Justice.” The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice for all, particularly in the areas of voting rights, criminal justice, fair housing and community development, economic justice, educational opportunities, and hate crimes. For more information, please visit https://lawyerscommitee.org.
