First Amendment - Stilts win!

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Commissioner Jennings case dismissed: Miami Judge rules no violation of law during vigil for human rights outside Israeli Consulate

FL - October 6, 2009 – In the County Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County, Judge Krieger-Martin granted Lake Worth City Commissioner Cara Jennings’ motion to dismiss. Ms. Jennings was arrested on March 16 2009 during a vigil outside the Israeli Consulate in downtown and charged by the City of Miami for “Resisting an Officer Without Violence” Case no. M-09-014990. (Fill in the case number when page comes up). The City of Miami has thirty days to appeal the Judges decision.

Jennings attorney, Ray Taseff of Chavez & DeLeon, P.A was satisfied with the Judges decision commenting “The Judge wisely recognized the long standing precedent that peaceful protesters may freely express themselves on public sidewalks.” Motion to Dismiss, “Cara Jennings was well within her rights under the Constitution to express herself in the way she chose… and her conduct was not in violation of any local law. Thus, the assembly itself was clearly lawful and the police order for her to move was without legal authority.”

The vigil was a response to the near-fatal injury of Tristan Anderson, an American peace activist and long-time friend of Jennings who was shot in the head while peacefully observing a demonstration against the “Separation Wall” in the town of Tristan suffered multiple condensed skull fractures as a result of being hit in the right frontal lobe by a high-velocity tear gas canister. He has had several life-saving surgeries and his prospects for full recovery remain unclear. In August, the Israeli Government declared the shooting of Tristan Anderson “an act of war” and has denied any liability for his injury. His family is asking for compensation and an army investigation into the incident, and is reportedly filing a civil suit.