February 21, 2006

Flemington, NJ - TheAmerican Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) appeared last night inFlemington Municipal Court seeking to dismiss a citation issued to Bob Flisser,a Flemington resident who received the citation for being part of a publicvigil for fallen soldiers without obtaining a permit. The ACLU-NJ contends thatthe Flemington "parade" ordinance violates numerous free speech protections.

"Flemington'sordinance is written so broadly that Christmas carolers, trick-or-treaters,people tossing a Frisbee in the park, or even two kids skateboarding togetherwould have to obtain permission from thegovernment to do so," said Fernando M. Pinguelo of Norris, McLaughlin &Marcus, P.A. in Bridgewater, who, along with Richard A. Norris and Jignesh J.Shah, are the ACLU-NJ cooperating attorneys representing Flisser. 

When Flisser receivedword that peace groups around the country were holding vigils on August 17thfor fallen soldiers, he went to the police station to inform them that he wouldbe holding a vigil. The vigil was to be held at the sidewalk plaza on Main Street in Flemington, a location where such free speech activities havetraditionally taken place in town. He anticipated that less than two dozenpeople would show up and that the chosen space was large enough to accommodatehis group without blocking any right of way for pedestrians, which it was. Thepolice refused to even consider his application on short notice (as they areauthorized to do), let alone decide whether to grant him a permit. Nevertheless,the vigil took place as planned, about 40 people showed up, and Flisser wasarrested and charged with violating [the] Flemington's parade ordinance. 

"We shouldn'tneed the government's permission every time we want to express ourselves in public,"said Flisser, "especially when our activities don't block traffic or cause anyother disruptions."  He added: "It'ssad that when we expressed gratitude to soldiers who gave their lives toprotect our freedom, the Borough of Flemington improperly took some of thosefreedoms away." 

The "Parade" ordinancethreatens free speech because it covers much more activity than isconstitutionally permissible and makes no accommodation for spontaneous speech.It covers "any parade, march, ceremony, show, exhibition, pageant or processionof any kind, or any similar display in or upon any street, park or other publicplace." To be eligible for a permit, an application must besubmitted at least six days before an event. The Chief of Police can waive therequirement apparently based on his unfettered discretion as the ordinanceprovides no guidelines for deciding whether to grant or not grant theexemption.

The case is captioned Boroughof Flemington v. Robert Flisser. The hearing date for the motion to dismissis to be set by the judge sometime in early 2006.