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Montgomery, Alabama: Arrested Women is Released Under First Amendment
March 18, 2005
PEN USA is pleased that an Alabama woman who was arrested for protesting last Thursday, March 10th, was released from prison that evening on First Amendment grounds.
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The woman was protesting at Auburn University in Montgomery, Alabama while President Bush was speaking on campus. She held a sign that read, “Stop the War!” and refused to move to the designated “Free Speech Zone” the university had set up earlier. Her refusal led to her arrest and being sent to Montgomery County Jail in handcuffs. She refused to give her name to the officers, so she has only been known as “Jane Doe.”
Chief Magistrate Patrick Murphy ruled that the woman’s sign was protected by the First Amendment. He also said the woman had a right not to give her name, since there was no probable cause she had committed a crime. For upholding the First Amendment by releasing “Jane Doe,” PEN USA applauds Chief Magistrate Patrick Murphy.
“It’s refreshing,” said David L. Ulin, co-chair of PEN USA’s Domestic Freedom to Write Committee, and a writer and teacher of writing at the university and graduate level, “That even in these repressive times, a judge was willing to stand up for the U.S. Constitution and do what is right.”
Recommended Action: Write Chief Magistrate Patrick Murphy to applaud his decision by standing up for the First Amendment.
Montgomery County Court House
1 Church Street
Montgomery, AL 36104
Comments:
My then 17 year old son was thrown out of a Bush rally in 2004. He had previously written a youth column for the local paper, and expressed views critical of the administration. Thank you, Chief Magistrate Patrick Murphy,
for your ruling in the “Jane Doe” case. It seems upholding the First Amendment is an act of courage these days.