Jun 10, 2015

Scott Walker Loses Another Free Speech Case, Citizens Prevail

Six more citizens won another free speech case against the Scott Walker administration who decided to close off the state Capitol to speech critical of Republicans after Walker infamously began publicly pursuing policies on which Walker refused to campaign.

This case in Dane County Court follows other civil rights victories against Walker's Dept of Administration (DoA) that unilaterally closed the state capitol, and crafted and imposed free speech rules stifling the civil liberties of Wisconsin citizens.

"Dane County Judge Frank Remington awarded plaintiffs Jeremy Ryan, Jenna Pope, Valerie Walasek, Lauri Harty, Anne Hoppe and her mother, Kathleen Hoppe, damages totaling $44,830," yesterday reports Glaze, Wisconsin State Journal.

Virtually all of the 100s of citations issued by Capitol Cops and every case that has reached state and federal court has resulted in wins for citizens against the Walker administration.

 "The Wisconsin Capitol Rotunda functions, both literally and symbolically, as a city center and is fully utilized as a public space to which all have claim," noted United States District Court Judge William M. Conley for the Western District of Wisconsin in Michael Kissick vs. Michael Huebsch and David Erwin (Mal Contends), citing Wisconsin's National Historic Landmark Nomination document, among other historical documents in his 2013 preliminary injunction that led to a free speech victory.

Conley had noted the vital societal purpose of public discourse, and the inherent civil rights citizens retain in the United States Constitution.

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