Vague, Capricious and above all..Arbitrary!

The sign below has been altered for illustrative purposes

Quigley gets first warning before 100 dollar fine.

It looks like he's preparing for his handcuffs doesn't it?

CITY CODE Sec. 22-6 ....(Prohibited)"Street performer or street performances includes acting, juggling, singing, playing musical instruments, pantomime, mime, magic, dancing, artistry or the creation of visual art and wares, which includes drawings or paintings."

The Federal Courts have consistently ruled that visual art (paintings, prints and photography) is fully protected by First Amendment making public parks the quintessential location for free speech. Bery vs N.Y.C. Mayor Guiliani was forced to concede that display on public property was guaranteed by the U.S. Constutucion. He then argued that sales of these protected items (paintings and prints) are not part of the guarantees. The courts disagreed, citing an earlier case, Lakewood vs. Plain Dealer Pub that wrote “It is well settled that a speaker's rights are not lost merely because compensation is received;  a speaker is no less a speaker because he or she is paid to speak.”  Guiliani lost the case and appealed it to the Supreme Court who refused to overturn the appeals court decision.So, Why is it so hard for the City Of St. Augustine to honor the high courts decisions? "We have our own rules down here", said then Asst. City Attorney Whitehouse back in 2006. Since then, over twenty citations have been issued and three artists have been jailed on six occasions for exercising the rights that have been well settled by the Federal Courts.In May 2009 Federal Judge Marcia Morales Howard ruled against the city. The City of St. Augustine was forced to vacate all charges and pay the artists and attorneys over 80 thousand dollars for legal fees.

On Saturday, August 28th artist Suvo set up in the Plaza de la Constitucion and was approached by an officer who requested that he turn off the video cam, apparently wanting to speak "off the record". Since there was a non artist citizen witness there Suvo complied (big mistake) The officer then said that a meeting was held and it was decided that Suvo could display and sell but cannot "draw a crowd." (a ticket for violating the ordinance 22-6 was issued the previous month and was dropped when Suvo requested a court date for a hearing.) When asked what defined a "crowd" the officer stated that this was a "muddy" area. Suvo continued to display and tried to sell his art until the day darkened, about seven more hours.

The next day artist Dean Quigley set up his easel and a small rack of works for sale and as pictured above was told by the same officer from the day before that he is in violation of 22-6 ordinance and was asked for id and social security number. It  was put on record that he was warned and the next time he would receive a 100 dollar fine. This time as opposed to the numerous time in the past few years he was not told to leave.

Artist Scott Raimondo yesterday asked the same officer about the ordinance and was told that it is in full effect that the area of the Plaza was restricted and that no one can display sell or paint in the restricted area (covering 94% of the total area) The 75 dollar illegal permits are also not being enforced (until THEY want to).

The City is practicing arbitrary and capricious enforcement that is the very definition of vagueness. We call it "making it up as you go along." "An unjust law is no law at all ",St. Augustine of Hippo

Damn The Constitution

                     

These recent snapshots above are of "city sanctioned" events that includes religious and political First Amendment activity. Visual artists are banned claiming that we block sidewalks and prevent entry and egress into the plaza. The city violates the ordinance repeatedly. No artist has ever blocked a sidewalk

Click pic to enlarge

The City of St. Augustine is moving to make a large part of  Old Town as "City proprietary property" meaning that the public no longer "owns" public space but that the City Hall owns this space, forgetting that they are simply the stewards of property "owned" by the public.

The main surface argument to ban visual artists has been to cite health and safety, claiming that the painters and art vendors (three of us at this time) block foot traffic preventing EMT's and police action. There had been problems when general merchandise vendors and street performers caused crowds and made excessive noise.(see photo above) Merchandise vendors and Street performers present a problem that does not exist with the art vendors. Federal Court decisions (Bery vs NYC) affirm that vendors of paintings, prints, photographs and sculptors have the right to display and sell on public property without the prior restraint of fees or licence. This decision stated that these artworks were "fully protected speech". General merchandise is not included in this as "protected". Street performers are limited in their rights by the sound and the crowds that they tend to produce. Since Street performers have less constitutional rights than does a visual artist the City has decided to label visual artists, "street performers".

 After a fee of $75.00 the city requires that a photograph be on file and worn on the artist's clothing along with the license.  The visual artist is to share space with merchandise vendors and musicians within the 60'x 20" Slave Market in the east part of the Plaza. Five spaces are allotted to First Amendment activity. These are illegal restrictions.

The city administrators simply turn a blind eye to well established case law that protects us. "They can't do that". We hear that all of the time. Can we arrest them? No. What we can do is go back into Federal Court and win again, costing taxpayers another $100, 000 +. This is in the works, meanwhile we are essentially out of work.

This Is America?

Our friends in Manhattan, artists Robert Lederman and Jack Nesbitt have been harrassed in NYC's newest park "The High Line". These arrests go nowhere since there is no legal basis. Robert Lederman, who won a supreme court decision allowing outdoor artists to set up and sell in any park in New York without a permit was arrested in Highline Park and issued five illegal summonses to the dismay of all fans of open air art and believers in the power of the US constitution , the courts, the laws of the land and those who enforce them.

The officers can be heard saying that this is a "special park". We have heard the same claptrap from the City of St. Augustine regarding the nation's oldest park, the Plaza de la Constitucion. These arrests as the are the arrests in St. Augustine of Suvo are eventually declared illegal by the Federal Courts but apparently the City administrations ignore Federal Court rulings ande make their own rules.

Charming Cobras In The Square

U.S.Flags are legal now ?

See here *

The Marrakesh marketplace in Morrocco had nothing on the Plaza de la Constitucion this weekend. Sales of factory made "African Drums" and some kind of lotion called Shea butter, amongst the boiling pots of corn on the cob, Italian ices, water vendors, costume jewelry and counterfeit purses and sunglasses.

In May, a Federal judge ordered that the city cannot ban artists (prints, sculpture, paintings and photographs) The city administration for some unknown reason, has decided not to enforce the ordinance prohibiting sales and requiring a permit of any kind for the sales of merchandise on the streets and parks of St. Augustine. This pretty much contradicts the reason for the ordinance in the first place, to prevent a flea market atmosphere.

The Plaza has now been discovered by an affable group of Ghanaians who have set up four separate stands all selling the same goods such as exotic glass and plastic beads, kalimbas , drums and sculpture.

Vendor to Couple about 20 feet away:"Hey you over dere! Come here! I have something to show you!"

The couple slowly walks over (zombies!?, hypnotized!?)

Vendor:"I have goods here that you will love, here, rub dis into your skin" (offering an open container of some yellow waxy substance)

As if in a trance the couple dip into the container and rub a small amount onto their forearms.

Vendor:"Dis is a magical ointment called Shea buttah." Stops and calls out to another couple who have already walked past....."MADAME !Free Samples Here! You Need To See Dis!" They continue to walk on.

Back to first couple "Ok you can have ninety percent off! You will love dis! It not only is a wonderful moisterizer but can prevent colds and the flu! You can see beautiful skin on African women who use shea butter. Some actually eat spoonfuls for internal problems. Only five dollahs! Ok, Ok, Wid dat,I give you dis beautiful bracelet for your little girl. No? "(Followers of the Holy Spirit Movement rebel group of Uganda smeared their bodies with shea butter in the belief that it would stop bullets)

The vendor immediately abandons the conversation turning to another couple perusing the goods. "NO Chawj Foh Looking !, Ninety percent off! I have carved dis just for you! (pointing to an obvious mass produced wood sculpture sold in flea markets all over.Yes, at least this is a constitutionally protected artwork)

That day we had the regular five local artists of prints, paintings sculpture and photos and twenty one vendors of general merchandise.

*

The artist Suvo was jailed on Memorial Day 2008, for offering newspapers and American flags for sale. The ordinance has not been changed. The court date is set for August 8, 2009.link

Editorial by Suvo

“What this country needs is more free speech worth listening to.”

Hans Duckett

The recent story in the St.Augustine Record was entitled "Both Sides See Win In Artist Suit". The title perpetuates the impression the populace has of the city administration and vice verso. Is it naive to believe that government and the people are supposed to be the same thing? Can our elected government have direct opposition to the people that they supposedly serve? It can happen when the elected officials and the city administrators decide that it is practical to bow to a minority. This minority is the group that came forth with campaign funds and golf outings and promises to keep the community vibrant with growth and progress particularly in their own interests.

We, the artists involved, have seen this close up. Last year a secret closed door meeting regarding our ouster from the streets was clearly obvious. When the ordinance was passed by unanimous vote to ban the artists the mulch boxes that contained our exhibits were removed the day before the vote. Whoops! The parks department slipped up on that one! No plausible deniability there.

Mayor Boles represents himself as a fighter vs the artists. Local readers, ask yourself this......Is he fighting for your interests? His friend and client, gallery owner Len Cutter is having difficulty selling his overpriced Dr.Seuss prints in one of his four galleries surrounding the Plaza. Look for blame........it must be those street artists....they are taking MY tourist dollar. Handle it Joe! Take care of it Bill! Get them out of there!

A clarification to the news story...........We have no spokesperson. As advocates of free speech we along with everyone else sometimes hold our tongues and clench our teeth when we hear something that conflicts with our own beliefs or philosophies. But everyone has the right to be heard. That said.............this is a visual arts issue not a street performer issue. Those who have spoken before this last City Commission meeting rehashing old narratives and shaking their fists have not been involved in the Federal lawsuit nor have we seen them anywhere near our past protests. Coming out of the woodwork now does not help us. We are leaving this in the hands of the Federal Court for now. Debate now?..........why?

Bates et al v. City of St.Augustine

Four artists have filed suit today in the United States District Court against the City of St.Augustine for repeatedly arresting and prosecuting artists who dare to defy the bans against sale of art on public property and by communicating to artists that they would be arrested and jailed if they sold, or offered or sale, their art within the City’s historic district.

Plaintiffs are asking the court for preliminary and permanent injunctions restraining the enforcement and application of what they say is an illegal City Code.

Previous cases in other Judicial Districts have affirmed artist's rights in this matter.

The artists are represented by the Jacksonville Florida firm of Sheppard, White, Thomas & Kachergus and St.Augustine atorney Tom Cushman.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK - ARTISTS GONE !

Last week the local news paper here, "The St. Augustine Record" reported that recently almost 20,000 dollars had been paid to hired counsel Michael Kahn of Melbourne to prosecute artist Suvo on a single charge of "offering for sale" artwork on St. George Street. Each side gave oral arguments of one half hour before Judge Wendy Berger. Contrary to previous Federal precedents he was found guilty and the fine of 165 dollars remained.

Mr. Kahn submitted his bill and was paid 19, 700 dollars from your tax dollars! This was for prosecution of one city code infraction. Suvo has perhaps a dozen more scheduled for trial along with seven other artists.

On New Years Eve two Art In The Market artists, Scott Raimondo and Dean Quigley were jailed for "offering for sale" artworks in the Plaza De La Constitucion. Undercover officers being paid overtime were used to solicit a price quote from each artist. These two desperate criminals were handcuffed and taken to the St. John's County jail and finally bonded out just moments before midnight, ringing in the New Year, 2009.

According to S.A.P.D. Commander Fricke, the city is "stepping up enforcement" by not only continue issuing 100 dollar citations but will now "take the artists directly to jail" before trial for "violating" ordinance 22-6. Meanwhile, the city permits musicians with tip jars and sellers of counterfeit designer purses to operate without hassle. Clearly this is directed solely at visual artists . City Manager Mr. William ("Art is Foo Foo") Harris and his landlord cronies feel that they are above the law and can use taxpayer funds to harass the artists to "protect" their interests, particularly in the case of Len Cutter who owns four art galleries surrounding the Plaza. He must feel that as an important man in this community he can dictate what takes place in "HIS" front yard, the Plaza De La Constitucion.........the nations oldest public space as stated on a sign near St. George Street.

So, as of New Year's Day 2009, after almost 450 years, you no longer have the ability or right to acquire artwork from the artist vendors of St. Augustine. Big Brother has won......................so far. The First Amendment does not exist in St. Augustine. Thank the artists for a good fight but we have drained our resources and will , fighting for our (and yours) natural rights.

This community should be ashamed, permitting this behaviour by unscrupulous city officials.

Lost Cause?

Yes ,the harassment by the city of St. Augustine against visual artists has been outrageous and illegal. We lose our cases in the lower courts and are expected to give up our fight for rights that have already been affirmed by the higher courts. We are YOU!

YOU MAY BE NEXT

Fellow Citizens,

If you've never been arrested, it goes like this. (provided that you do not resist and we definitely do not recommend doing that)

It's Saturday Afternoon - You are handcuffed with your hands behind your back . You wonder what is going to happen to your art and your dog.

You are put into the back seat of a police car and delivered to the County Jail where the cuffs are removed .

You empty your pockets and give over your wallet.

You wait on a metal bench with no back in booking. Do not try to lie down or lean on your elbow even if your back is killing you. You will get a sharp command to "SIT UP!"

A nurse who is busy carrying on a joking conversation about another corrections officer's hangover will ask some cursory questions without ever looking at you. Blood pressure is taken. You mention your aching back and are completely ignored . The hungover officer is sucking oxygen from a clear mask. You think of of Dennis Hopper in the film "Blue Velvet".

You cool your heels on the bench another forty five minutes listening to the banter amongst the officers who are behind a reinforced plate glass window with paper trays slots for documents to be passed and signed. You are invisible. They discuss last weekend's BBQ, the "asshole" over in Putnam County and other idle chatter while they move papers around, stamping and stapling."I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU AGAIN DUDE, SIT UP !" Your sciatica is shooting electric pains down the back of your left leg. You feel some resentment being called "Dude" by someone half your age. You are thinking about your 13 year old dog and wonder how he is faring in custody somewhere.

A guard takes you down the hall where you are fingerprinted and photographed with the traditional front and left side poses. A plastic bracelet is crimped onto your left wrist. On it is your Id with the tiny front view photograph and a bar code.

Next you are put into a sticky "holding cell" that smells of vomit. Another short metal bench. Try to lie down and you are again barked at from the window slot ( NO LYING DOWN !). You ignore the warning since your sciatica is acting up and you are weary.

After an hour has passed you are sent to a stall where you take a brief shower (you are being observed) You change into an issued orange jumpsuit, poly cotton boxer shorts and rubber sandals. Your clothes are put into a brown paper bag.

You are also given a stained plastic covered 2 inch thick mattress , a set of sheets, a toothbrush, a tiny toothpaste tube and a comb. Awkwardly carrying the mattress and items you are taken to a lock down cell on the second floor loggia,semi circled around what looks like a common area for prisoners. A few prisoners are occupying the other cells A few yell out requests to the guard ,"Can I make a phone call?", When is food coming?"etc. The door closes.Your cellmate is a guy named Dave who was charged with stealing a bottle of rum from the liquor store. You immediately sense that it has been sometime since his last shower. Sounds are distorted with reverberating echos bouncing around the cinder block walls.The intercom in each cell makes some sort of human voice sound once in awhile but the exact words are indecipherable.

You will not go anywhere until the next morning since you were arrested on Saturday and the judge will not come in until Sunday. The judge will set your bond and a court date. If you are accustomed to reading before you sleep at night forget it. After reading some of the graffiti scraped on the walls (Sheriff Shoar Sucks! Jesus Loves You) There is not a lot of diversion other than your mind to occupy yourself. A food tray is delivered but you do not eat it keeping in mind that the food contract went to the lowest bidder. You will eat when you get out. You try to sleep worrying about your 13 year old dog.

Sunday Morning. Eighteen hours after your arrest, a garbled scratchy sound comes from the intercom speaker and the gate clicks open. You and five other prisoners are chained at the ankle and handcuffed .You are all strung together with a "belly chain" and you can't help but think of the old Woody Allen monologue where they escape prison as a giant "charm bracelet" (Did we really laugh at that?) Dave is chained next to me and the guy on the other side of Dave is causing trouble cause of the smell. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!", says the guard. He does.The others seem more adept at making our way down the hall. You can't seem to get the group rhythm down and your missteps affect everybody chained to you. You don't care.

After standing around for a half hour ("NO LEANING AGAINST THE WALL!") you and your chain gang buddies are shuffled into a room with a desk in front and five rows of benches (again no backs!) facing the front. The group is told that the judge will be arriving soon and we are not to discuss our case or speak without being addressed by the judge. It you do so you may be removed from the room. The judge enters looking annoyed (It IS Sunday) papers are shuffled three or four others are up front. Two are not in uniform (Public defenders? Prosecutors?) Two sleepy looking tangle haired women prisoners are brought in and placed on the benches in front of us. Looking around at the prisoners you notice something in common. Lots of facial hair and tattoos. You wonder why criminals would want to mark themselves to be so identifiable. One guy seems still a little inebriated and starts spouting off about the unfairness of his situation. He is unchained from the rest of us and taken away.

Cases are called. DUI and domestic violence dominates the charges , after all this is Sunday morning after a full moon Saturday. Writer Raymond Chandler wrote , " ....On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husband's necks. Anything can happen...." A few are in for drug possession and you wonder why they don't leave their drugs at home since most have had these charges before.

Your case comes up. The judge is perplexed "This is a city ordinance violation?" A ridiculously small bond is set at 100 dollars. Great! You are confident that your friends will bail you out. You are anxious to get out to find where they have taken your 13 year old dog . He must be in distress!

Eventually you do not get out for another 12 hours. Your stomach is churning not having eaten for a day, Declining the food trays slid under your gate you start imagining what you will eat when you get out. The twenty dollar bill in your wallet can get you a nice meal.......mmm, a burger....no.... a steak!

Finally, you are told to drag your mattress to the front of the common area and are given your clothes. You get dressed and are relieved that you will be going home. "Go down the hall to the last room. "Do not stray from the yellow line!", says the jailer. You enter the room where you are told that they want to swab the inside of your mouth for a DNA sample. "No", you say, "I'm not gonna do that". "OK, THEN YOU'RE  GOIN' BACK IN THE CELL AND YOU CAN ROT THERE!," the jailer bellows. Once again you undress and put your clothes in a brown paper bag with your name written on it with a sharpie pen. This time you get no "gift bag" of toothpaste, comb etc. I find out later that DNA samples are taken of all inmates who have prior felonies, of which I have none.

You are finally released at 8:30 pm , Sunday Night. Friends posted bond. They waited hours earlier for your release but finally went home.Their inquiries as to when the release would be is, met with the response ,"I don't know". You have been incarcerated for almost 31 hours.You say, "Hey. I had twenty dollars in my wallet!" The large heavy breathing , obese , angry jailer says, "We took that for administrative expenses." Looking at his name tag you see that his last name is "Pious". You feel robbed.

With no money, not wanting to disturb anyone on a Sunday night, you walk the two miles back to your car and on the windshield you discover a red tag from the police stating that your car will be towed if not removed in 48 hours. It's 10 PM Sunday night and another artist is set up in the Plaza. He loans you some money to get something to eat. Tomorrow you will find out where they took your old dog.

On Monday morning you get your dog back after paying 75 dollars to Animal Control who housed him. You promise him that this will never happen to him again. The animal control people said that he was not happy there and would not eat.You get a "free" leash outta the deal.

Six months later your "unauthorized art" is returned in the courtroom and you are found innocent of the charges. You wonder if you will ever see that twenty dollars that was taken from your wallet.

In addition to this incarceration the artist Suvo has been arrested and jailed on the same charges three more times. Eleven other citations had been issued as well.  UPDATE...In May 2009, Federal Judge Marcia Morales Howard ruled against the City of St. Augustine and in favor of the artists in Bates et al VS The City of St. Augustine. All charges were vacated and costs were billed to the City of St. Augustine. Over 100, 00 dollars has been spent by the city in outside legal fees on indefensible unconstitutional ordinances.It is now September of 2010 and the city continues to harass artists by threatening fines and arrest.

Permission To Speak ?

"We make our own rules down here"...former St. Augustine city prosecutor

Election time is coming up here for our city commissioners. We've heard that a couple of the candidates have expressed a desire that the city be more "artist friendly". Time and again we hear of those that feel the artists, musicians, bead stringers, craftspersons etc. could have a juried system set up and a market could be established in a designated public place and perhaps have a lottery for those spaces. Artist friendly...right? No.

We have tried to be clear about our endeavors to stand up for artist's rights as recognized by the Federal courts. Public space has been the traditional forum for freedom of expression in America. Do we believe in "rules"? Of course we do. Reasonable time, place and manner regulations are necessary to maintain an orderly aesthetic. The key word is "Reasonable". Art is speech. Artist's rights are also your rights.

Here we have an interview with Robert Lederman, an advocate for street artists, freedom of speech and open public spaces. Robert sued the city of New York to strike down permit requirements for artists in public spaces. His case went to the Supreme Court and is cited in many free speech cases. Robert explains our stance very succinctly.

Very Soon this issue will be in the National spotlight. Our city will be known as America's Oldest Police State. Watch what is going to happen. Passivity is over. Most of us are members of A.R.T.I.S.T. Artists in N.Y.C., Reno, Nev, Boston, Chicago , Venice Beach, CA are our brothers and sisters in this battle and we communicate. Perhaps you city officials here in St. Augustine should be contacting you counterparts in those cities. Ask em in Reno, Nevada and other cities how their attempts at stifling free speech worked for them. Link.

You have the police and their handcuffs. You have the jails. You have your hired "constitutional expert". Your offers of unacceptable alternative spaces and your wholesale purchases from selected artists in our grooup are seen for what they are...transparent shams.

You continue violate the law and we will do our utmost exposing these gross violations to the public. We may well end up being just one old Rottweiler and a grizzled white haired eccentric but keep sending the cops and we''ll provide the prisoner.(but he'd rather not go)

In preparation of a Federal lawsuit our attorneys have asked (under the Sunshine Law) for materials pertinent to the passage of the November 07 ordinance which bans us from the historic districts. Hopefully this is done in a timely fashion so that we can get on with our day in Federal court. We do not have confidence that we get justice in the St. Johns County court system.

Memorial Day

The real crime are those pale skinny legs


"It is well settled that a speaker's rights are not lost merely because compensation is received; a speaker is no less a speaker because he or she is paid to speak." Riley v. Nat'l Fed'n of Blind of North Carolina, 487 U.S. 781, 801 (1988).

As a demonstration of First Amendment Rights, artist Suvo "offered for sale" (one dollar) 8"x 12" American flags in the Plaza on Saturday. The only flags purchased was by a naturalized citizen from Poland. Shortly thereafter Suvo was handcuffed and jailed. God Bless America ! Are you shocked? Complacency and apathy seems to rule here in America these days If you are not concerned that citizens American rights are being eroded, then you are not paying attention.

Does our small remaining group of artists have the resources to continue our protests? No! Sure, we hear everyone tell us how wrong this is. Frankly, we are uninterested in hearing this. We've heard it enough. Most will wait until their rights are violated on their front doorsteps.

UNDER ORDERS FROM ????

REMOVED BY ST. AUGUSTINE POLICE ON MEMORIAL DAY

ARTIST ARRESTED (MORE LATER)

Why Is This Man Smiling?

When these Irish eyes are smiling,

Sure dere's trouble in the Park

With a lilt of Irish laughter

Give a ticket, make a mark

When Irish hearts are happy,

All the world seems bright and gay.

When these Irish eyes are smiling,

Sure ya know it's a bummer day

Officer McCully of S.A.P.D, working under orders from above, issued two 100 dollar tickets to a photographer and a painter on Mother's Day in the Plaza.

"Mama,Why Is The Policeman Taking My Picture?"

Scene of The Crime

Here is a narrative that is typical of the treatment that street artists in St. Augustine receive.


"Well,out of the clear blue they came up to me Thursday, April 3 in the middle of doing a portrait of a 6 year old birthday boy tourist grandson at the corner of Charlotte and Hypolita to interrupt the rapport I had going with this youngster and issued me a citation. No less than two police cars and three policemen stayed for 20 minutes while the boy and his visiting grandparents watched. They said I could be arrested if I set up again. They took a picture of my easel. One of the shopkeepers thought there must have been a major accident. It was embarrassing and humiliating and I kept apologizing to my clients for the unpleasant experience on their vacation. They had returned from a previous trip two years ago when I had done another sibling to have this one done for his birthday. I take a lot of pride to give my portrait sitter a pleasant experience during the portrait session and it was upsetting that the police were so disruptive to this with no regard for the impact on the tourists. What a great birthday memory for this family to bring back to Ohio! Other tourists going down the street on the other side called out: Do you have time for another one?"I called out: "Looks like NOT!", pointing to the police officers.Quite a shock to the peace and community feeling that's built up over two years on that corner with the local businesses benefiting as I often sent people to the surrounding shops and restaurants."
Nancy Christensen

George The Lame Duck

Left, Little Red Riding Hood , Right, Commissioner George Gardner

At one time we were told that city commissioner and former mayor George Gardner was sympathetic to the free speech rights of visual artists. Gardner has decided not to run for another term. As a former print reporter George was good at telling everybody what they wanted to hear but short on following through. Artist Suvo can tell you that Gardner rudely took three phone calls as he (Suvo) tried to discuss this issue with the commish. "The guy is a phony", says Suvo. "He was completely uninformed and it was clear that he had made up his mind, I was ushered out after only a few minutes."His vote to have artists expelled from the historic district was joined by the other four commissioners. Gardner sent out an e mail newsletter where he explained that this was done because County Judge Tinlin ruled that all vendors (sun glass merchants, flea market items etc.) must be permitted or the alternative would be to ban all vending in the historic district including First Amendment protected materials ( paintings, prints, sculpture and photographs) This fallacy was repeated in the press by Mayor Joe Boles and Erroll Jones. The St. Augustine Record also reported this as fact. City prosecutor Robin Upchurch included this as "fact" in her presentations to the commissioners.(See The Big Lie) Here is the truth:

"The Court finds that the ordinance 22-6 as applied to the defendants is an unconstitutional restriction "of their freedom of speech or expression as guaranteed under the First and Fourteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution as well as Article One of the Florida Constitution." St. Johns County,St. Augustine FL. Heard 9/26/07 by County Court Judge Charles Tinlin. Decision rendered 10/10/08

Anyone following this case could read Tinlin's decision on this blog. Nothing in the judges decision states that the city must permit all merchandising or ban all merchandising. We do not agree with his entire interpretation some of which is faulty and flies in the face of the First Amendment. There is a substantial difference in what is protected speech guaranteed by the First Amendment and other "merchandise such as jewelry and beads.

So long Commissioner. We prefer to have those who disagree with us to be direct and say so. Go back to your "do nothing" committees and workshops.

Encroachment

These five City Commissioners have ignored Federal Court rulings that affirm that Art is fully protected by the First Amendment Bill of Rights.

If not for the courage of a few remaining artists who face arbitrary arrests ,jail and confiscation, we would have an empty Plaza. (ready for the corporate sponsors to step in )

The citizens have told us that we are wanted and in no way detract from the historical nature of St. Augustine. Ask yourself....just whose interests do these commissioners, judges and city attorneys represent?

Behind The Story

For his entire time in public office N.Y.C. mayor Mike Bloomberg has continued to wage a vicious war against street artists that was started by Mayor Giuliani and the CPC (Central Park Conservancy), including daily illegal enforcement, daily harassment, false arrests and ongoing efforts to strip away the legal rights we won in the course of ten years of legal struggle. Read activist artist Robert Lederman's article and you can see that "corporatization" and loss of personal freedoms is moving in to all sectors of our life. This applies to NYC, Peoria Illinois or St. Augustine Florida. Should we wait for "Ripley's Plaza De La Constitucion"? Article

Will You Wait Until It Happens To You?

Which of these free speech activities is not permitted by The City Of St. Augustine, Florida?* The other three are considered "protected speech" by the City. Do we have equal protection as artists selling our works? No! The musicians (& news machine) received money for their service or product. The visual artist gets arrested for publicly protesting a bad, uneven and illegal ordinance. Yet read the Federal Court wording regarding the commercial aspect of artwork as protected speech. The City Commission disregards Federal rulings . Their predecessors did it in the bad old days of desegregation and they are doing it now.

See Lakewood v. Plain Dealer Pub. Co., 486 U.S. 750, 756 n.5 & 768 (1988). "It is well settled that a speaker's rights are not lost merely because compensation is received; a speaker is no less a speaker because he or she is paid to speak." This was invoked in BERY vs RUDOLPH GIULIANI IN 1996 affirming an artist's right to sell his works on public property. Art is Free Speech.

* Hint: You can see police shutting down Suvo's protest on St. George St. (December 2006) Verdict by Judge Tinlin ....Guilty.

St. Augustine Florida, First Amendment

Karl by Mandy

Wednesday September 26, 1PM St. John County Courthouse

St. Augustine, Florida

Artists And Their Art On Trial