ACLU FILES SUIT AGAINST KEEPING CRITICS AWAY FROM BUSH EVENTS

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THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION and the ACLU of New Mexico filed a
lawsuit in federal court on behalf of several New Mexico residents and
advocacy organizations who were made to stand more than 150 yards away
from the site of a fundraiser being attended by the president as they
peacefully protested the views of the administration, while a group of
people expressing support for President Bush were allowed to stand only
a few feet from the fundraiser site.
"People who disagree with the president have as much a right to be heard
as those who wish to praise him," said Catherine Crump, staff attorney
with the ACLU.  "The unequal treatment of the ACLU's clients violates
their constitutional right to free speech."

According to the ACLU's lawsuit, law enforcement officials forced the
peaceful protestors to stand 150 yards away from the motorcade route, on
the opposite end of the street from where the president would arrive,
where they were blocked from the president's view by a wall of parked
police cars and officers on horseback. A group of people holding a
banner reading "God Bless George Bush! We Pray for You!" was allowed to
stand only a few feet from the fundraiser site, in plain view of the
motorcade.

"Law enforcement officers gave Bush supporters front row seats and made
those who disagreed with the president stand behind a wall of cars and
horses," said Peter Simonson, ACLU of New Mexico Executive Director.
"Officials went to great lengths to shield the president from viewing
the people who disagreed with him, which just isn't how a free society
should operate."

The New Mexico lawsuit comes in the midst of an ongoing challenge by the
ACLU to a White House policy that unlawfully excludes individuals
perceived to be critical of the administration from public events where
President Bush is present. The policy is laid out in the official
Presidential Advance Manual, which includes a section called "Preparing
for Demonstrators." In that section, the manual directs members of the
presidential advance team working at the site of a presidential
appearance to "work with the Secret Service and have them ask the local
police department to designate a protest area where demonstrators can be
placed, preferably not in view of the event site or motorcade route."

http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/protest/33657prs20080115.html

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