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Posted on 10/30/2006 11:55:38 PM PST by Jomini
Beaufort County Commissioner Hood Richardson was arrested Monday night after handing out campaign literature at Southside High School during a football game. Two Washington police officers met him at the gate of Washington High School, his second stop of the night — and brought him to the Beaufort County magistrate’s office.
Richardson was charged with disorderly conduct. He was released after posting $1,000 unsecured bond.
“I still don’t know what was disorderly,” he said, standing outside the office at the bottom of the Beaufort County Courthouse.
“Maybe the tie,” said his campaign manager Bill Tarpenning.
Richardson was handing out fliers with referees’ signals on one side and his platform on the other. He is running against incumbent Democrat Arthur Williams for the House District 6 seat. Richardson received a warning at Southside High School, but stayed and handed out his campaign cards until “it sort of dried there,” he said.
Bryant Hardison, the chairman of the Beaufort County Board of Education, notified Richardson in writing before Monday’s game to stop handing out the campaign literature at such events. Hardison cited both a school-board policy and a state statute.
“We’re going to be out at both games — our school resource officer and leaders,” Hardison said Monday in a telephone interview before the game. “He’s welcome to go and press the flesh, but he’s pressing the issue when he’s handing out campaign literature. He’ll be asked to stop and if he doesn’t, we’ll take the necessary steps.”
Richardson sent two press releases before the Southside-Manteo game indicating that he would not abide by Hardison’s letter. “This is an exercise in civics,” the release stated. “All the young people there, as well as their parents, should be aware that no one should allow their First Amendment rights to be trampled on.”
Richardson arrived at the Beaufort County courthouse without handcuffs, in the front seat of a Washington police car, followed closely by Tarpenning and attorney Steve Rader in another car. Each man had a bright yellow campaign sticker on his lapel.
Richardson has vowed to return this coming Friday night and continue handing out campaign literature. His argument is that political speech is the most protected speech under the First Amendment.
When candidates for political office are arrested for taking a conservative message to the people then the legitimacy of the entire process comes into question. Richardson is expected to file a formal complaint with the Justice Department tomorrow.
J
Good for him. The indoctrination centers don't want anyone influencing their indoctrinees.
Ummm, maybe, maybe not:
Bryant Hardison, the chairman of the Beaufort County Board of Education, notified Richardson in writing before Monday’s game to stop handing out the campaign literature at such events. Hardison cited both a school-board policy and a state statute.If he wants to fight the school-board policy and/or the state statue, getting arrested might not be the best way to start the ball rolling. Then again it might, if he doesn't mind the arrest record.
> Good for him. The indoctrination centers don't want anyone influencing their indoctrinees.
Yeah, but isn't getting arrested at this point sort of counter productive? If he disagreed with the school-board policy and the state statue, he should have started on that tack weeks or months ago, not a week before the election. Now he only looks foolish, spending time dealing with an arrest.
Where we live they city pulled all our campaign (recall) signs. Had the city crews go out and do it. We retrieved them from the back of the city trucks in the city yard.
Don't know about NC but the schools here (in my district) in Wisconsin send school bond issue/ referendum campaign literature home with the kiddoes after they brainwash the little beasts into thinking that Life As We Know It Will End if the school doesn't get another $15 million to spend on plasma TV's, etc.
They did that in Mecklenburg County last year; also had school district employees putting out the signs on county time. Plenty of laws broken; government shrugs.
The bond issue lost big, though!
Here in Union, they've obviously been lecturing the school kids about the bond vote, or passing out literature, because the students are writing identical letters to the local papers. I plan to vote against it on GP, even though I'm sure it will pass.
I hear MLK didn't mind.
There's a time and place for everything. A high school football game is a "shut up and watch the game" venue, not a place for politics, and Richardson had been warned. This guy probably lost himself votes and certainly represented his party poorly with his attitude.
Forget about the right to freedom of speech. In the New World Order we need sheep like you.
I notice that the head of the school board (democrat ?) arrested the challenger to a democrat's position.
But the media (democrat) doesn't mind.
> I hear MLK didn't mind.
That's true. But MLK was preaching and practicing civil disobedience, and getting arrested was part of the process of breaking and changing the law.
Richardson is running for elected public office, where presumably he is supposed to obey and uphold the law. An arrest record is not a plus.
Claiming he's fighting for his 1st Amendment rights is wonderful, but he's not doing his campaign any good, unless his constituents are desirous of civil disobedience in their civil servants.
So you're right about MLK, but there's an important difference here.
And what about Free Speech? Pamphleteering goes back to the days before the Revolutionary War.
As I read the article, it's not about WHETHER he's allowed to distribute campaign lit, it's about WHERE he's allowed to distribute campaign lit. He was apparently breaking an established state statute doing it where he was.
If he feels the statute or school board policy deprives him of an inalienable right, he has to be arrested so he can challenge the legitimacy of the statute in court.
Without the arrest, there has been no deprivation, so he would lack any legal standing to challenge it.
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(That's the way I understand it to work, anyway)
:-)
IANAL, but I think you're right. And as a private citizen doing civil disobedience, that's exactly the way to go.
Nevertheless, my concern was that as a politician, running for State office, carrying around an arrest record for breaking state law seems sorta undesirable. Voters often don't pick up on the fine points of civil disobedience theory -- they just see that he broke the law and was arrested.
While I can certainly see your point, I'm not sure if the arrest would be a serious enough infraction to be placed on his record.
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Voters often don't pick up on the fine points of civil disobedience theory -- they just see that he broke the law and was arrested.
The average voter doesn't understand the way the law works, anyway. It's downright frightening the way most people immediately and mindlessly comply with every mandate spewed by government. (shudder)
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Personally, I'd vote for someone who had the gumption to take a stand against the nanny state before I would some limp-wristed politico who spends their time subverting the Constitution.........
but I guess I'm just ornery that way!
:-)
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You guys are looking at this as a point of principle and law.
I read the story and envisioned the plethora of high school games I've been to. All of my sons were players on highly successful teams in a state where more people go to high school football games than go to church.
The guy was wrong. It was not the time or the place. A high school football game is a place for school colors, silly chants, marching bands, awful concession food, and leaving the world's troubles at the gate.
What he did was a political faux pas, sort of like Ford crashing the Corker press conference in TN. It has nothing to do with free speech, but rather with respectable behavior.
There is a time and a place for everything. Forgetting that generally makes one look foolish and irritates the masses, arrest or no arrest.
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