ACLU of Alabama defends rights of Montgomery Study Group
Sept. 15, 1998
This morning, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama filed an emergency lawsuit against the Montgomery County school system to protect a local organization's constitutional right to freedom of expression.
Representatives of the Montgomery school system have indicated the system will not honor an auditorium rental contract with the Montgomery Study Group based on the political message of the group's speaker.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of the Montgomery Study Group and two of its members, asks the court to guarantee the group’s constitutional right to freedom of speech by ordering the school system to honor the contract. Judge Myron Thompson will consider the group's request today at 1:15 pm.
Last week, the Montgomery Study Group negotiated a contract to rent the Carver High auditorium with Carver High School Principal Dwight Madison for a "Stop the Violence Seminar/Rally." The group complied with all requirements for facility rental, paid the full rental price in cash and received a signed contract from the school's principal, Dwight Madison. The contract provides that the Study Group could use the auditorium on Wednesday, September 17, from 5 p.m. until 11 p.m. for a "Stop the Violence Seminar/Rally."
Less than an hour after the Montgomery Study Group’s representatives received the contract, the school's principal, upon learning that Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam would be one of the group's speakers, informed the group they could not hold the event in the school auditorium.
"This is exactly the sort of behavior that the First Amendment's freedom of expression clause was meant to prevent. The Government cannot tell this group or any other what political and religious viewpoints it is allowed to express," said ACLU cooperating attorney Edward Still.
"I understand that Louis Farrakhan may not be a popular figure, but if we do not come to the defense of the free speech rights of the most unpopular among us, then no one's freedom of speech will be secure. Our constitutional right to speak must be protected vigilantly or the right lost for one may be the right lost for all,” said ACLU attorney Shannon Holliday.
Attorneys for the Montgomery County Board of Education have indicated that the board will not honor the contract unless a court orders the board to do so.
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