http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=12693

Texas jury convicts activists of violating protest ordinance 

By The Associated Press 
02.17.04 

CRAWFORD, Texas — Five peace activists arrested last year en route to a demonstration outside President Bush's ranch were convicted yesterday of violating the city's protest ordinance.

A jury deliberated about 90 minutes before returning the guilty verdicts for the five on the Class C misdemeanor of violating Crawford's parade and procession ordinance.

"It's an overall picture of the complacency of our nation and how the president has this sort of no-protest zone around him at all times," Amanda Jack, one of the defendants, said in a story in today's Waco Tribune-Herald.

"It's completely absurd that you can't even get near the peoples' president," the 23-year-old Austin resident said. "You can't even petition your own government representative."

The Crawford ordinance required protesters to give 15 days' notice and pay $25 before the chief of police could issue a permit to protest within the city. The rule has since changed to allow for a seven-day notice.

The five activists, who were given fines ranging from $200 to $500, say they plan to appeal the verdict to McLennan County Court.

Tricia Major, who was the first of the five arrested, said she wasn't surprised by the verdict.

"I think that we had a jury of people who live in a small town, so they're going to have to face their neighbors and their public officials and their law enforcement personnel every day," said Major, 43, of Dallas. "We're not the most popular people in this town, and it would take an enormous amount of courage to bring back an innocent verdict."

Jim Harrington, the attorney for the five said they were not demonstrating at the time of their arrests. They were stopped by a police blockade in May and some had gotten out of their cars to try to negotiate with the officers, according to testimony. Trip organizer Lisa Fithian had testified that some activists took out their protest signs to show them to the officers.

The newspaper reported that Jack, Major and the three other activists convicted yesterday — Michael Mashicek, 48, of Crawford, and Austin residents Amara Malizewski, 24, and Ken Zarifis, 40 — were, along with about 100 others, headed for the president's ranch near Crawford to protest the war in Iraq and various Bush administration policies when they ran into the blockade.

Crawford Police Chief Donnie Tidmore testified that a person wearing political buttons without a permit could violate the city ordinance that requires prior notice before a protest or parade.

The five activists filed a federal lawsuit last June against the city and the police chief, claiming that the Crawford ordinance violated their First Amendment assembly rights and the Texas Bill of Rights.