$80,000 Paid for Two Anti-Bush T-Shirts

In 2004, Jeff and Nicole Rank were arrested for wearing anti-President Bush t-shirts, at a public rally. They filed a lawsuit. The claim was that the Secret Service had violated their First Amendment rights. The lawsuit has been settled with an eighty thousand dollar ($80,000.00) settlement:

“…”This settlement is a real victory not only for our clients but for the First Amendment,” said Andrew Schneider, executive director of the ACLU of West Virginia. “As a result of the Ranks’ courageous stand, public officials will think twice before they eject peaceful protesters from public events for exercising their right to dissent.”"

link: Feds Pay $80,000 Over Anti-Bush T-Shirts

The White House spokesman said that the payment was not an admission of wrongdoing. - Why is it so difficult to say ‘we made a mistake’? It is taking responsibility. Is the refusal to admit that this was an error mean that, in the future, the Secret Service will read all t-shirts carefully and arrest accordingly? Perhaps examining t-shirt messages falls under a national security plan…

Catherine Forsythe

[tags]lawsuit, settlement, t-shirts, dissent, security, secret service, first amendment[/tags]