I had a similar experience to Elizabeth's at the Farmer's Market back in 1999 when then Mayor Coleman was pushing his referendum for a 3% bar and restaurant tax to pay for a new Twins Stadium.
It was a Saturday morning and I was there with another anti-stadium tax activist or two and the Twins had a table pushing for the referendum. We were there passing out anti-stadium tax materials when the manager told us we had to leave. We refused and said that it was public land and we had a right to be there. The manager then threatened to call the Police and have us arrested. We then said "Great! This is public land, paid for with public tax dollars, you are allowing the Twins to be here to promote their point of view, but when someone with an opposing view shows, you threaten to have them arrested. Go ahead call the Police and have us arrested. We would love the publicity and would love to show how employees of the City are clearly limiting the Free Speech of a group that the City managers oppose." This was in a very loud voice, so everyone within 50 feet would understand what was going on. I don't recall, but knowing me I probably then said something like, "And then after we're arrested and beat the rap, we'll sue you and Mayor Coleman under 42 USC 1983 which is the Federal Civil Rights law." This guy backed down so fast it wasn't funny, and we never had any other problems at the Farmers Market for the rest of the summer. Until I am shown that the Farmers Market is private land, I would tell any candidate or any group with any issue that they have a right to wander the Farmers' Market freely and at will. It is disturbing that City officials appear to be limiting the exercise of Free Speech under the First Amendment there. We may need to find out where this edict is coming from and educate a few St. Paul City officials regarding the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Daniel D. Dobson J.D. Summit Hill --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Send Stpaul mailing list submissions to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, > visit > http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul > or, via email, send a message with subject or body > 'help' to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > You can reach the person managing the list at > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it > is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Stpaul digest..." > > > ------------------------------------------------- > Please - Take the St. Paul Job Shadow Survey > Just 15 Questions: > http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=70658501784 > ------------------------------------------------- > > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Farmers Market/Campaigning (Elizabeth > Dickinson) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2004 11:12:05 -0500 > From: Elizabeth Dickinson > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [StPaul] Farmers Market/Campaigning > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Message-ID: > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" > > I spent several weekend mornings at the Farmers > Market last year. I believe > Christine did as well. I was politely asked to > position myself just outside > the market area--it looked like it pained the > manager to even ask me to do > this. I think what struck me most was that the > overwhelming majority of > those visiting the market were from the 'burbs. > There were a few folks from > other wards in the city, but there were very few > visiting from inside Ward > 2. > > However, quite a few of the organic farmers were > very interested in talking > to me... > > Elizabeth Dickinson > West Side > > > ------------------------------ > > _____________________________________________ > NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your > password - visit: > http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul > > Archive Address: > http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ > _____________________________________________ > For state and national discussions see: > http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html > For external forums, see: > http://e-democracy.org/mninteract > > End of Stpaul Digest, Vol 7, Issue 7 > ************************************ > _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
