Want A Jail Sentence with that?
December 19, 2007
JENA, Louisiana - A white separatist group planning a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade next month in Jena is suing the town, claiming officials are violating the Constitution by asking participants not to bring firearms, changing the parade route by one block and requiring the posting of a bond.
The Nationalist Movement filed the federal lawsuit Dec. 14 and is seeking a temporary restraining order to keep the town from interfering with the Learned, Miss.-based group’s “Jena Justice Day” rally. Group officials claim the town’s rules violate their 14th Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution to due process.
The planned Jan. 21 march — on the holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader — is in response to the thousands who rallied on Sept. 20 in Jena in support of six black teens who have become known as the “Jena Six,” and against what they claimed was disproportionately harsh treatment of blacks by prosecutors.
The Jena High students were initially charged with attempted murder in connection with a Dec. 4, 2006, attack on a white student. All charges were later reduced to aggravated second-degree battery or second-degree battery.
“When a group of, say, minorities or homosexuals want to have a parade, they aren’t usually required to put up a bond or pay for police or pay for cleanup,” said Barry Hackney, a spokesman for the organization.
The ordinance, Mayor Murphy McMillin said, has been in place for “many, many years.” All seven of the organizations that participated in the September rally complied with all the guidelines, town officials said.
There were no reports of arrests or vandalism after more than 20,000 rallied in support of the Jena Six.
Hackney said the Nationalist Movement will not come to Jena if their concerns are not resolved by Jan. 21.
Walter Dorroh, attorney for Jena, said the community would follow the laws and let due process work.
Wants to revoke integration
The Nationalist Movement has among its missions revoking integration at the University of Mississippi, and has called on its football coach to de-integrate the team.In an Oct. 15 letter to McMillin, Richard Barrett, an attorney for the Nationalists, asked the town for electricity for loudspeakers and electronic equipment, “adequate security,” restroom facilities, access to drinking water, “adequate and secure parking” and no noise from hecklers.
In McMillin’s Nov. 27 response to Barrett’s requests, he asked Barrett to fill out the permit application and provide proof, as is required in the ordinance, of a $10,000 bond. He also pointed out that the town does not have responsibility for and would not be providing restrooms, water, food, on-site emergency medical care or electricity.
McMillin said these services were provided by the parish for the September rally, and he encouraged Barrett to contact the LaSalle Parish Police Jury about those needs.
The Nationalists say Jena’s rules governing public demonstrations are invalid and unconstitutionally over-broad.
The Nationalist Movement successfully sued York, Penn., over fees the city tried to charge it for a rally the group held in 2003. That rally drew five members of the movement.
SMH. Sometimes I don’t understand the way racists think…
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1.
KeVin K. | December 22, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Margret Cho once said racism is like the weather. It’s not the hate, it’s the stupidity.
Racists perceive themselves as victims. They believe everything is being taken from them and given to others who don’t deserve it and have done nothing to earn it simply because of the color of their skin. That’s universal, true no matter what race the racist is.
In this case I am willing to bet there is not a single member of the Nationalists rank and file who believes for one second that any black organizations had to post bonds and did not have water, food, electricity, security, and anything else they asked for provided free of charge. They are certain they are asking for no more and no less than what others received. That they are being denied these things is to them one more bit of evidence — proof of the multiethnic conspiracy to destroy the white race.
The good news is: Their biggest rally to date had five participants.
2.
Mrs. Rawls | January 4, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Sometimes I just wonder about Blacks. We as a people are not progressive because we never make a stand. Many are called but only a feww will answer. The Jena six is another example of how this country is the most racist and unjust place. And they say we free and they fighting for freedom. Blacks you are stating your votes are split well guess what Bush wasnt when he did not fund no child left behing or when he sent your kids to a war to be killed for oil. What about the increase in tution increase, higher taxes on the poor not the middle class. Blacks keep being the slave negros you are and be undecided. Bush showed you that your vote dont matter anyway (Florida). And let them play you into voting for Hillary. And your kicks will be drafted to Iran as she just signed for that. Do your own research and see what Clinton really did before you state anything. Blacks have an admendment to be able to vote and you mean to tell me you are split please spare me. Be the clarence Uncle-tom and keep selecting a President like the last 8years instead of one being elected. What experience did Bush have? Please informa me. Governor for a minute and baseball owner. He was in the air on Sept. 11 and flew Bin Linden family out of country. But yeah be weak and think you have arrived and we are go continue to be in this same state of slavery. So Vote Hillary and be a fool. Or be like Harriet, W.E.B, Barbara Jordan and make a clear stand that we support our Black Intelligent Candiate. Because the vote because of race. And you are letting this be ok to saythey not ready for someone of clor to hold the highest office. Blacks can be so dumb. We have not grown at bit.
3.
Convincing | March 28, 2008 at 8:18 am
Nationalists seek more legal fees from city
DAINA KLIMANIS The York Dispatch
Article Last Updated: 03/28/2008 10:47:43 AM EDT
Though a federal judge has sought to end the five-year lawsuit a white supremacist group has waged against York City, the organization has appealed the case after a judge denied its most recent request for legal fees.
The organization took the city to court over its public assembly ordinance, and its request for about $3,700 is one in a series of demands for court costs and interest.
The city has already paid about $90,000 in costs and fees since a series of courts found much of the city’s public assembly ordinance unconstitutional. The ordinance had required demonstrators to pay for police coverage and provide a security deposit and proof of insurance.
James D. Young, the attorney handling the case for the city, had previously said the Nationalists are not entitled to additional payments now that the city has paid what the court required.
U.S. Middle District Judge Yvette Kane agreed, saying additional fees are at the discretion of the court and she does not find them appropriate in the Nationalists’ case.
“After such protracted litigation, enough is enough,” Kane wrote in an order filed earlier this month.
But Nationalist attorney Richard Barrett said the organization deserves the fees and hopes to teach the city a lesson by appealing the case to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
“Our idea is mainly the principle, that they shouldn’t be encouraged to violate the principle of the first amendment in the first place,” Barrett said.