From: owen (email suppressed)
Date: Tue Aug 07 2007 - 11:50:16 PDT
I can relate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrfro136Pso
owen
On Aug 7, 2007, at 2:32 PM, Cari Machet wrote:
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Rev Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping <email suppressed>
> Date: Aug 6, 2007 11:54 PM
> Subject: The First Amendment Case Begins
> To: email suppressed
>
>
>
> Rev's Trial For First Amendment Recitation Began Today
>
> NEW YORK, August 6--Free Speech lawyer Norman Siegel appeared in
> court today with co-counsel Earl Ward arguing for the dismissal of
> 2nd Degree Harassment charges against Reverend Billy (aka Bill
> Talen). The activist preacher was arrested on June 29 for reciting
> the First Amendment in Union Square, but Siegel insisted "Reverend
> Billy has the First Amendment right to recite the First Amendment."
>
> Siegel went on to argue that this attempt to convict the Rev using
> the harrassment statutes is akin to the District Attorney accepting
> the NYPD's argument that the Reverend and the police are somehow in
> a romantic relationship or a marriage of some kind.
>
>
> Photo by Fred Askew Photography
> The case history of the 2nd degree harassment law is limited to
> ex-boyfriend sexual stalkers and drunk husbands.
>
> The Reverend's comment: "Chutzpah! The cops say that they are my
> abused wife? Are they so defenseless? I didn't put THEM in the
> Tombs!" a reference to the City's correctional facility, where the
> Rev had been detained for 20 hours.
>
> Siegel and Ward argued that reciting the 44 words of the First
> Amendment was not harassment but had real civic value in the
> context of the Critical Mass bike ride and the Picture New York
> group's struggle against limits on filming and photography in
> public spaces.
>
> The entire text of Siegel's argument for dismissal can be found at
> www.revbilly.com. The Reverend's defense lawyers will submit
> today's arguments in writing to the court by September 10th, and if
> the charges are not dropped, the trial will go forward on September
> 25.
>
> ----
>
> Reverend Billy and the Church of the First Amendment believe that
> Consumerism is overwhelming our lives. The corporations want us to
> have experiences only through their products while neighborhoods
> and "commons" places like stoops, parks, streets and libraries
> disappear into the corporatized world of big boxes and chain
> stores. Through performance and direct action the Church works with
> communities around the world to "push back" against corporate and
> state violence.
>
> www.revbilly.com
>
>
> © 2007 all rights unreserved and for the people, Rev Billy and
> the Church of Stop Shopping. To remove yourself from this list
> CLICK HERE. | www.revbilly.com
>
>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
>
__________________________________________________________________
For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.