Lawrence County appears to agree with Dakotans for Health that citizens have a right to discuss and circulate petitions at the courthouse door. Less than a month after the ballot question committee filed suit against Lawrence County’s ban on circulating petitions in front of its courthouse and administrative building in Deadwood, and with a week left in the extended temporary restraining order against that apparently un-First-Amendment-y ban, Lawrence County is promising to obey the conditions of the TRO even after its July 20 expiration while it drafts a new policy on petitioners:
The plaintiffs tell Judge Roberto Lange that they view this promise from Lawrence County as reason for them to hold off on requesting any further relief from the court at this time:
The Lawrence County Commission has met twice since its restrictions on petition circulators came under Dakotans for Health’s legal fire on June 20. Neither meeting’s agenda included any public discussion of the lawsuit or revisions of the challenged policy. But the county’s promise not to enforce its restrictions on where circulators may speak with voters around the Lawrence County campus in Deadwood indicates the commissioners have realized the Constitutional error of their ways and are working on a new policy that will keep them out of court.
But while Lawrence County is drafting its new policy, circulators, you may continue to collect signatures at the courthouse and admin building doors in Deadwood. You have the county’s promise.
Yikes.
Yeah, I think they figured out they were going to lose this one. They are not being above board, though, are they? Two meetings and nothing on their agenda seems a bit strange. Maybe I’m being a bit paranoid. I suppose some discussion might have been had in an executive session, though you could also suspect they are getting input or orders from some other players who are in deep background. You would think by this time they would have had something proposed that would be reasonable. It ain’t that hard. The hard part is crafting something that’s unreasonable and slimy that allows them to screw First Amendment rights in some slimy way.
See it time after time on 1st amendment audits… liberry, police station, courthouse, postal facilities policies do not trump first amendment rights that allow peaceful, non disruptive video or picture taking inside government buildings that are not marked restricted and are accessible to the public. Same goes for public sidewalks, parking lots and anywhere the public has access.
Plus anyone in a public access area has no expectation of privacy from being filmed or photographed. This includes police cars and any police computers that are carelessly left open in plain view.
Lawrence County is a political tinderbox. Even Mary Fitzgerald is concerned and is being pummeled by members of her own party after she wrote a letter to the editor decrying online harassment.
Cory, thanks for updating us on the status. Mr. Leach is very generous, not subscribing to the raygun edict of, ‘trust but verify’. Perhaps Mr. Leach’s approach assists with ambling back into a civil society.
Consider this weekend, backing out to the 30,000 foot level regarding our civil strife.
Peter Turchin is a newly retired scientist who began as a zoologist and at mid-career transferred to becoming a historian. Turchin and others use the rigor and discipline of math to understand history, past and present. And well, because its math-based, it’s also subject to generalized near term forecast considerations.
End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration is fascinating. Turchin is also on a handful of interviews via Youtube. Though some interviewers are not up to par, and some sound systems are second rate.
Neil Howe’s: The Fourth Turning Is Here: What the Seasons of History Tell Us about How and When This Crisis Will End, updates his earlier work with the present.
George Friedman’s, The Storm Before the Calm, is similarly to the above works, in that its also a cyclical examination of history.
Our nation is far, far from being out of danger and having tremendous internal strife. Pushing back at every authoritarian and elite is one historically proven means for a nation to emerge from these once in 88-100 years of generational strife.
Well, Mr. Leach obtained a clear statement that the TRO would be followed even if it expires, and that was sent on to the Court. So, as far as that goes, I think he’s covered. There’s no sense in using court time to do something that is going to be done anyway. I guess I’d be worried whether the new policy will be any better. If they really wanted to do a policy that was Constitutional it doesn’t seem that hard to do.