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Sunday, July 31, 2005

Evansville settling John Blair lawsuit

Maureen Hayden of the Evansville Courier& Press reports here today that:

The city of Evansville has apparently reached a settlement with a local political activist who sued the city after he was arrested outside a 2002 political fundraiser featuring Vice President Dick Cheney.

The financial agreement comes on the heels of federal court rulings that found city police violated protester John Blair's right to free speech when they arrested him after he entered a "no-protest zone." The zone was set up by Secret Service agents during Cheney's visit to Evansville to raise money for Republican Rep. John Hostettler. The rulings said Blair was entitled to monetary damages for his wrongful arrest.

Just how much money he'll get is unknown. The agreement is confidential and the city's insurance carrier at the time of the arrest is expected to pay the settlement costs. According to court records, the confidential agreement between the city and Blair was reached in late June, about a month after city officials publicly vowed not to settle the case. * * *

In his court ruling in the case in March, U.S. District Judge Larry J. McKinney found it was the size, not the existence of a no-protest zone that was the problem. McKinney found the no-protest zone mandated by the Secret Service was unreasonably large, went far beyond what was required to provide protection for Cheney, and appeared to be designed with the intent of keeping protesters from being heard or seen by Cheney during his visit to Evansville. Blair was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct when he ntered the no-protest zone and silently stood across the street from The Centre holding a sign that read "Cheney, 19th Century Energy Man." The charges against Blair were later dropped.

Blair and the Indiana Civil Liberties Union alleged police violated Blair's First Amendment rights by ordering him out of the zone and then arresting him when he questioned their right to do so. A federal appeals court upheld McKinney's ruling in May.

For earlier ILB entries on this dispute, see 3/18/05 (Federal Judge McKinney rules for environmental activist); 3/19/05 (More on "Federal Judge McKinney rules for environmental activist"); and 4/11/05 (City to contest 'no protest zone' ruling).

Federal Judge Larry McKinney's 35-page ruling in Blair v. City of Evansville (3/17/05) is available here.

According to the 7th Circuit site re City of Evansville v. Blair, the City's petition for permission to appeal was denied by Circuit Judges John L.Coffey, Frank H. Easterbrook, Circuit Judge, and Ann C. Williams on 5/11/05.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 31, 2005 09:10 AM
Posted to Ind Fed D.Ct. Decisions