Posted 4/14/03 9:57 am ET

Out of sight ...

Appeals Court rejects Burk's protest site request

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- Hours before the Masters teed off, a federal appeals court rejected Martha Burk's emergency request to allow protesters outside the front gate of Augusta National Golf Club.

The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday against Burk, who plans to picket Augusta National's all-male membership during the third round of the Masters.

"So, the circle is complete on cutting off our free speech rights," she said. "This was our last shot."

Burk, head of the National Council of Women's Organizations, wanted to place picketers at the front gate of the exclusive club on Saturday.

Sheriff Ronald Strength would only approve a site a half-mile away. He said it was unsafe to gather in front of the club because of heavy congestion during the tournament, which starts Thursday morning.

The three-judge panel refused to grant Burk's emergency request to block a ruling by U.S. District Judge Dudley H. Bowen Jr.

Bowen upheld the city ordinance granting Strength the power to regulate protests and also approved the sheriff's application of the law in handling Burk's request.

Burk said her group had no other legal means to overturn the decision before the weekend, though it will continue to fight the constitutionality of the city ordinance in court.

Burk had hoped to post 24 demonstrators outside the front gate of Magnolia Lane, the main entrance to Augusta National, and 200 more across the street.

She believed that would be the most effective way to demonstrate against the club, which said again Wednesday that it had no timetable to admit a female member.

Strength turned down Burk's request, citing safety concerns along five-lane Washington Road. He said the protests would have to be held a half-mile away -- at a grassy, 5.1-acre site donated by the club.

"Needless to say, we're pleased about the ruling," the sheriff said. "We felt confident going in that we were within the guidelines of the law. It is now evident the court also felt the same way."

Burk said the Georgia ACLU would have monitors at the protest to ensure no one's rights are violated. She was concerned the ordinance gives the sheriff's office broad power to determine what's legal.

"I'm disappointed that the wall of discrimination is so high down there that local authorities, and even the judges, are willing to conspire with the club, the mayor and the city commission to deny us our free speech rights," the Washington-based Burk said.

"Clearly, they put this club over the Constitution. That ought to be a concern for everyone in this country," she said.

Burk said her attorneys would study a loophole in the ordinance that allows fewer than five protesters to gather without a permit. But Strength said it didn't matter; he still wouldn't allow such a group to congregate at the main entrance.

"That is not an option and that strategy is circumventing the law," Strength said. "It's very dangerous and we're not going to allow that."

At a court hearing last week, the sheriff testified that even one protester would be too many outside the gate.

"You've got to stay within the guidelines of the law and anybody breaking the law is subject to arrest," Strength said. "It's a public safety issue there and folks standing on that sidewalk blocking that sidewalk, blocking people from getting by, is a violation."

"If we ask folks to move on and they refuse, they are breaking the law."

Burk said her group didn't plan to do anything illegal at Saturday's gathering.

"That said, the sheriff can define anything he wants to define as illegal: someone carrying a sign or someone crossing against the light," she said. "That's why we challenged the ordinance."

A group headed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson also has been approved to protest at a second site, even farther away from the club's main entrance.

In all, the sheriff's office has approved protest permits for eight groups, including a splinter faction of the Ku Klux Klan and People Against Ridiculous Protests.

 

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