ACLU-TN Victory in Protecting Free Speech of Occupy Nashville Protesters

Federal Judge Rules State Violated Demonstrators’ First Amendment Rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 13, 2013

CONTACT:
Hedy Weinberg, ACLU-TN Executive Director, 615-320-7142

NASHVILLE – In a ruling underscoring Tennesseans’ right to political speech, a federal judge ruled late yesterday that the state of Tennessee's arrest of Occupy Nashville protesters was an unconstitutional violation of their First Amendment rights.

"The Court’s ruling is a resounding victory for the principles of free speech and protest championed by Occupy Nashville and the ACLU," said ACLU-TN cooperating attorney David Briley, of Bone McAllester Norton PLLC. “This decision reinforces that the state cannot just arbitrarily limit free speech in any manner it wants to.”

In the ruling, Judge Aleta A. Trauger wrote, “The First Amendment cannot yield to the enforcement of state regulations that have no legal effect…In choosing to adopt and implement new regulations by fiat without seeking necessary approval from the Attorney General, they made an unreasonable choice that violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights in multiple respects."

“The right to free speech and political protest is crucial to a healthy democracy, perhaps today more than ever,” said ACLU-TN Executive Director Hedy Weinberg. “We applaud the Court for safeguarding the essential guarantees of the First Amendment.”

ACLU-TN filed the lawsuit, Occupy Nashville et al., v. Haslam et al., in October 2011 after the State of Tennessee met in secret and revised the rules controlling Legislative Plaza to implement a curfew and require use and security fees and $1,000,000 in liability insurance prior to community members engaging in assembly activity. The state then arrested the Occupy Nashville demonstrators under the new rules. Prior to their arrests, the demonstrators had been gathered at Legislative Plaza in downtown Nashville to peacefully express their frustration with the government for a couple of weeks.

The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division.

In addition to Briley, the plaintiffs are represented by ACLU-TN Legal Director Tom Castelli; ACLU-TN Cooperating Attorney Patrick Frogge of Bell Tennent & Frogge PLLC; and ACLU-TN Cooperating Attorney Tricia Herzfeld of Ozment Law.

The decision for this case can be found here.

The order for this case can be found here.