http://www.wisinfo.com/northwestern/news/local/stories/local_17284507.shtml
One-man overpass rally lands Libertarian $181 ticket
By Alex Hummel
of The Northwestern
Jacob Burns thought he was taking the high road.
The 20-year-old Oshkosh resident stood on the Winnebago County Trunk GG overpass of U.S. Highway 41 on July 31. Alone, he hoisted his flimsy, homemade poster board sign stating “No Bush! No Kerry! Vote Badnarik …,” a show of support for Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik.
“With traffic flowing at about 35 cars per minute and peaking at 50 cars per minute, I got 35 to 40 honks, four middle fingers and several waves and fists,” Burns recalls in his personal log of the one-man political rally.
Then things went wrong, the maintenance man at a local community based residential facility said.
A Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department deputy rolled up on the overpass.
Burns was questioned.
After admittedly asking some questions of his own, he was slapped with a $181 fine for violating a state statute prohibiting the display on highways of “unauthorized signs” – a statute Burns argues is written to prevent interference with and blockage of road signs, not, he suggests, censor political speech.
“I wasn’t covering any signs,” he said. “It (his sign) doesn’t look like another sign. And it didn’t distract.”
That’s not the way Winnebago County’s Sheriff’s Department sees it.
Sheriff Michael Brooks said Burns’ presence on the overpass alone warranted investigation. He may have been on the shoulder of the road, but it still is classified as right of way.
And the major issue is safety, Brooks said.
“The law is not intended to take away the ability to utilize your First Amendment speech as it relates to elections,” Brooks said. “It’s done as a traffic safety issue.”
Burns said he chose to stage his rally on the GG overpass’s north side to catch the attention of southbound U.S. 41 traffic headed for the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture 2004.
He said it was not his intention to turn the mini-rally into a law-breaking publicity stunt.
“I actually went out to the country to avoid confrontations with city police,” Burns said.
Martin Gruberg, a University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh political science professor and head of the local ACLU chapter, said he thinks Burns has a case.
“This is, as far as I’m concerned, protected by the First Amendment,” Gruberg said, adding he advised Burns to contact the ACLU in Milwaukee.
“We have some politicians who stand by the Oshkosh bridges with their signs and they are allowed to do that. It may be distracting, people might honk at them or be irate with their message, but they’ve got the right to do that.”
Burns can pay the fine handed to him or appear in court on Aug. 25 to fight the ticket. He’ll choose to do the latter. The ACLU offered to refer him to an attorney who would represent him at little or no charge.
“I’m not pleading guilty,” Burns said.
Alex Hummel: (920) 426-6669 or [email protected].
One-man overpass rally lands Libertarian $181 ticket
By Alex Hummel
of The Northwestern
Jacob Burns thought he was taking the high road.
The 20-year-old Oshkosh resident stood on the Winnebago County Trunk GG overpass of U.S. Highway 41 on July 31. Alone, he hoisted his flimsy, homemade poster board sign stating “No Bush! No Kerry! Vote Badnarik …,” a show of support for Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik.
“With traffic flowing at about 35 cars per minute and peaking at 50 cars per minute, I got 35 to 40 honks, four middle fingers and several waves and fists,” Burns recalls in his personal log of the one-man political rally.
Then things went wrong, the maintenance man at a local community based residential facility said.
A Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department deputy rolled up on the overpass.
Burns was questioned.
After admittedly asking some questions of his own, he was slapped with a $181 fine for violating a state statute prohibiting the display on highways of “unauthorized signs” – a statute Burns argues is written to prevent interference with and blockage of road signs, not, he suggests, censor political speech.
“I wasn’t covering any signs,” he said. “It (his sign) doesn’t look like another sign. And it didn’t distract.”
That’s not the way Winnebago County’s Sheriff’s Department sees it.
Sheriff Michael Brooks said Burns’ presence on the overpass alone warranted investigation. He may have been on the shoulder of the road, but it still is classified as right of way.
And the major issue is safety, Brooks said.
“The law is not intended to take away the ability to utilize your First Amendment speech as it relates to elections,” Brooks said. “It’s done as a traffic safety issue.”
Burns said he chose to stage his rally on the GG overpass’s north side to catch the attention of southbound U.S. 41 traffic headed for the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture 2004.
He said it was not his intention to turn the mini-rally into a law-breaking publicity stunt.
“I actually went out to the country to avoid confrontations with city police,” Burns said.
Martin Gruberg, a University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh political science professor and head of the local ACLU chapter, said he thinks Burns has a case.
“This is, as far as I’m concerned, protected by the First Amendment,” Gruberg said, adding he advised Burns to contact the ACLU in Milwaukee.
“We have some politicians who stand by the Oshkosh bridges with their signs and they are allowed to do that. It may be distracting, people might honk at them or be irate with their message, but they’ve got the right to do that.”
Burns can pay the fine handed to him or appear in court on Aug. 25 to fight the ticket. He’ll choose to do the latter. The ACLU offered to refer him to an attorney who would represent him at little or no charge.
“I’m not pleading guilty,” Burns said.
Alex Hummel: (920) 426-6669 or [email protected].
