Can Charlottesville ban guns at a political rally?
On August 12, when the Unite-the-Right rally came to Charlottesville’s Emancipation Park, there were four groups with assault rifle-style weapons: The State Police riot squad; The National Guard; The so-called III%’ers (shown above), supposedly hired to provide security for the Nazis; and The Redneck Revolt, there to provide security for counter-protesters at Justice Park. None […]...
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Charlottesville is not liable for injuries sustained at Rally
The City of Charlottesville, Police Chief Al Thomas, and State Police Superintendent Steven Flaherty have been sued for injuries allegedly suffered by Robert Sanchez Turner when he was hit by water bottles thrown by alt-right demonstrators on August 12, 2017. He has sued for “all permissible damages,” plus punitive damages and attorneys’ fees. His claim […]...
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Charlottesville’s argument for moving Rally was weak
I am always reluctant to offer Monday-morning-quarterbacking and second-guessing of what other people put in court filings, because I usually don’t know the facts that the other lawyers know, and it seems gratuitous to take pot-shots after the fact. But in the aftermath of Judge Glen Conrad’s decision to grant Jason Kessler his injunction so […]...
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Political Demonstrations and Guns
I was in downtown Charlottesville on Saturday, and the single most disconcerting, disorienting, confusing, troubling thing I saw was the “militia” brought in by Jason Kessler and his friends to “protect” their rally. As this picture shows, these militia members — 32, I am told — were dressed in camouflage, some wearing what looked like […]...
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Soliciting and conspiracy, and murder
Continuing with the discussion — James Alex Fields, Jr., who was in Charlottesville to attend the Unite the Right rally, is charged with driving his car on August 12, 2017, into a crowd of counter-protesters four blocks away from Emancipation Park. One young woman was killed and 19 were injured, 5 critically. Fields is charged […]...
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Can speech that incites others to commit crimes be punished?
Quick answer — “Not likely.” On August 12, 2017, Charlottesville resident Jason Kessler staged his “Unite the Right” rally, featuring a star-studded lineup of white nationalist and neo-Nazi speakers. The rally was expected to start at 12 noon. At about 11:35 AM a battle broke out on one side of Emancipation Park; the State Police […]...
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The ACLU/Rutherford Institute Letter to Charlottesville, Analyzed
Today (August 8, 2017) the ACLU and the Rutherford Institute sent Charlottesville a letter demanding that the City withdraw its August 7, 2017 letter that modified Jason Kessler’s demonstration permit to permit the demonstration only in McIntire Park. The City decision is explained in the statements of City Manager Maurice Jones, Police Chief Al Thomas, […]...
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Can Charlottesville Require Insurance for a Demonstration?
No. The City Standard Operating Procedure on Special Events, passed in 2009, distinguishes between “Special Events” — sports events, pageants, music festivals, etc., — and “demonstrations,” a term that refers to “non-commercial expression protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution (such as picketing, political marches, speechmaking, vigils, walks, etc.) conducted on public […]...
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It’s Hard to Regulate Demonstrations
In the last two installments of my primer on First Amendment law, we reviewed the history of government regulations of demonstrations. In Part One, we saw how efforts to shut down civil rights marches enabled the Supreme Court to say, in increasingly emphatic tones, that governments cannot forbid, or even substantially inconvenience, protests because of […]...
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Time, Place and Manner Restrictions on Demonstrations
A few days ago, I discussed the history of efforts by governments to regulate demonstrations and protests. In Part One, I discussed the roots of the doctrines — in decisions by the United States Supreme Court to protect civil rights marchers from the efforts of the likes of Birmingham Police Commissioner Bull Connor to shut […]...
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