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Judge Says City Erred In Barring Marijuana Rally Superior Court Judge Carol S. Ball said the First Amendment requires the Parks Department to issue a permit for Hempfest, which last year resulted in 150 marijuana-related arrests. Ball said the city can set conditions to protect public safety at the rally, which is expected to draw 75,000 to 100,000 people. MassCan's advocacy of civil disobedience by public marijuana smoking does not allow the city to deny the permit, Ball said. ``Civil disobedience is a bedrock of our society: the Boston Tea Party, the Vietnam War protests,´´ she said. But the city overstepped its authority when it demanded that MassCan, as a condition of the permit, ``discourage the illegal smoking of marijuana at the rally´´ through public announcements and performers. Bill Downing, president of MassCan, said in court filings that ``we will not be coerced into becoming agents, scaring the people with the very laws we despise.´´ Boston police said last year's rally was rife with violations of city regulations, including unauthorized vendors, more than 30 of whom had no health permits and one of whom had a 100-pound propane tank, five times the size of tanks permitted on the Common. Police also were critical of speakers telling the crowd to ``light up.´´´ MassCann lawyer John Swormley told Ball that there was nothing illicit about such statements because smoking marijuana is not the crime, possession is. The only people who could smoke marijuana on the Common would be those who obtained it illegally before they got there, Swormley said. So, he reasoned, the crime was already committed and thus no speaker at a rally could be seen as inciting lawless activity. ``Cute,´´ said Ball. ``You ought to go to work for President Clinton.´´ Earlier in the week, Ball ruled that the city violated the free speech rights of owners of the Paradise Club when the club was shut down July 8. Last month, US District Judge George A. O'Toole found that the city violated the First Amendment rights of the Nationalist Movement when it denied the Mississippi group's 1994 application for a parade permit. In a statement, the municipal law department welcomed Ball's recognition of the city's need to manage large events and protect public property and safety and said the city would issue a permit with appropriate restrictions. A spokesman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino said the crop of First Amendment rulings is no reflection on the administration's policies. ``None of these rulings say the city has done anything unconstitutional. What they take issue with is the way the ordinances and regulations are written,´´ said spokesman John Dorsey. City lawyers said the permit would be issued by next Wednesday and the judge set a hearing on the legality of the restrictions for Aug. 28. Hempfest is scheduled for Oct. 3. The Beacon Hill Civic Association as well as the Friends of the Public Garden and Boston Common opposed Hempfest, contending that the event causes inordinate damage to the grounds. Sandra Steele, president of the Beacon Hill Civic Association, said the rally should be moved to City Hall Plaza if it is to be held because her young son relies on the Common for a neighborhood green. Last year Steele's son was playing soccer elsewhere on the Common during Hempfest and ``breathed secondhand marijuana smoke.´´ The children, she said, ``were all smiles.´´
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, news clippings are made available without profit for research and educational purposes. |
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