Sacramento City Attorneys Censor Flag Exhibit
May 19, 2008, Sacramento, CA
120,000 flags
At a press conference on Friday, May 16, Debra Reiger (Sacramento Coalition to End the War), Mark Reichl (ACLU) and Cres Vellucci (ACLU) explained to the media that a permit to use the Capitol Median strip for a flag exhibit starting on Memorial Day weekend has been denied. This denial was sudden and surprising, as city employees had previously told Reiger that use of the strip for the exhibit had been approved.
"We plan to put up 120,000 small white and red flags on the Capitol Median strip (west of the Capitol, from 9th St. to 2nd St.) on Sat., May 24 and remove them on Sun. June 1," said Reiger at the news conference. "Each flag represents 5 people who have died in Iraq since the U. S. occupation in March of 2003. The red flags represent U. S. soldiers; the white flags represent Iraqis. The city has denied the permit after having given verbal approval three times. Why are they doing this? Is this poltical push-back? Do they not want to encourage freedom of expression in a public place?"
Reiger asked the ACLU for help after working in good faith for many weeks with the City of Sacramento to finalize the permit. She was first told on March 27 that the median strip was available for this purpose. She requested a permit from the City Parks and Recreation Department on April 10 and was told on April 21 that her event request had been approved and only details about the date had to be worked out.
After repeated calls to the city's event organizer and no response, Reiger went to city hall for help. She had another letdown on May 7, when a Parks and Recreation manager, who had arranged the exhibit, was told that the event needed legal review. (This was after he had asked her about her connection with Sacramento Coalition to End the War, whose name she had listed on the permit request.)
The permit was denied, but not in writing, and with no city code listed as the reason. Reiger was told that attorneys feared it would set a precedent and just anyone might want to put up flags in that area. So what?
Reiger, along with co-organizer Daniel Costa and supporters of the display, attended the City Council meeting on May 13 asking for help. Council Member Ray Tretheway offered to help "bring this effort to success."
Tretheway called Reiger about an hour after that meeting, saying that the permit had been approved and she would be able to pick it up the next day. Unfortunately, two hours later he called to say that he had received a lot of push-back from the city attorneys and the permit was still denied.
So what's next? The ACLU will be with Reiger, Costa, and supporters at the next City Council Meeting, May 20. The outcome is unknown, but Reiger and Costa are determined to get approval and set up this very moving exhibit. They say they are determined to prevail in their efforts to get a permit. Information about the traveling Iraq Body Count can be found at iraqbodycountexhibit.org.
Help is needed to set up the exhibit on May 24 and take it down on June 1. For information, and to volunteer to help, contact: Debra Reiger, (916) 698-8131
debra.reiger@earthlink.net; Daniel Costa, (916) 613-1106; or John Reiger, (916) 456-4595
The purpose of the
Iraq Body Count Exhibit is to raise awareness of the human cost of the Iraq War. The Exhibit is non-political, as the numbers speak for themselves.
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