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Burk to appeal after protest plan nixed
Posted: Tuesday April 08, 2003 12:54 PM
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- Martha Burk criticized a judge who barred
her group from protesting at the front gate of Augusta National,
saying Tuesday that "party revelers are taking precedence over
legitimate protesters."
Burk, who wants Augusta National Golf Club to admit its first
female member, plans to appeal two separate rulings by U.S.
District Judge Dudley H. Bowen Jr.
"I think it's clear they acted in the best interests of the
city and the club rather than the best interests of the First
Amendment," Burk said in a telephone interview.
Burk, working with the Georgia chapter of the ACLU, will ask a
three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn
Bowen's rulings before her scheduled Masters protest.
Time is drawing short. The tournament begins Thursday, and
Burk's group is planning to protest during the third round
Saturday.
"I'm a little surprised," Burk said. "I didn't think they
would be so blatant acting in the club's interest and not the
public interest."
Burk wants to protest outside the main entrance of the club,
believing that would give her cause maximum exposure. But the
sheriff, citing safety concerns, said her group will be restricted
to a site about a half-mile away.
City attorney Jim Wall praised the rulings.
"Certainly we are pleased the court upheld the validity of the
ordinance and the validity of decisions the sheriff made as far as
public safety issues," Wall said.
Burk, who heads the National Council of Women's Organizations,
wanted to post 24 demonstrators outside the front gate of Augusta
National and 200 more across the street.
Sheriff Ronald Strength, who has broad authority over public
protests, said there's too much traffic in front of the club during
the tournament to ensure safe protests.
Strength told Burk and other groups they must gather at a
5.1-acre site nearly a half-mile from the gate.
A group headed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson also has been approved
for a second site even further away from the club's main entrance.
ACLU lawyers challenged the ordinance, saying it gives the
sheriff too much power to approve or deny protests and dictate
their location.
Bowen sided with the city in two separate rulings Monday.
"The ordinance does not discriminate against a particular
viewpoint or limit speech to certain subject matters," he wrote in
a 17-page decision.
In a second ruling, Bowen said the sheriff acted properly to
enforce the ordinance.
The judge called the area outside Augusta National "profoundly
congested" during the Masters and said allowing protesters to
congregate outside the gate presents "a realistic, plausible, even
probable potential for some accidental injury."
Augusta National maintained that it had no interest in the court
case.
"As we have said all along, any demonstrations that take place
outside our grounds are a matter solely for local authorities,"
club spokesman Glenn Greenspan said.
The sheriff's office has approved protest permits for eight
groups.
Burk and Jackson plan to demonstrate against the all-male
membership. Two groups have received permits to protest against
Burk. Another group plans to protest against Jackson. A one-man
faction of the Ku Klux Klan, who lists Tiger Woods as his favorite
golfer, will support Augusta National's rights to private
membership.
Another man wants to demonstrate in support of President Bush's
war policy.
Then there's Deke Wiggins and his "People Against Ridiculous
Protests." Their permit has been approved, too.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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