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ACLU: U. City police department threatened petitioner's rights
(by Jenny Fisher - September 30, 2009)
University City’s police department is under fire from the American Civil Liberties Union and from citizens claiming that a petitioner’s First Amendment rights were violated while he was collecting signatures in support of a state audit of the city’s finances. Robert Davoli, the petitioner, was collecting signatures outside the post office when a police officer told him he couldn’t petition on the part of the sidewalk where he was standing because it is federal property.
Along with petition organizer Paulette Carr, Davoli came to the city council meeting Sept. 21 to talk about what had happened. “That encounter amounted to intimidation of one of our petitioners,” Carr told the council.
“I view this as a violation of our rights to petition (a First Amendment right). And we have a right to do that free from the intimidation of a man who carries a badge and a gun, especially if we are not breaking any laws or ordinances,” she further explained in an e-mail.
In a letter addressed to University City Police Chief Charles Adams, attorney Anthony Rothert of the ACLU wrote that the police officer was wrong to tell Davoli to move. While collecting signatures, leafleting and campaigning is not permitted on post office property, such activities are permitted on a perimeter sidewalk outside of a post office that is indistinguishable from municipally-owned sidewalks, like the slab Davoli was standing on, according to 2005 amendments to the U.S. Postal Service regulations.
“Any arrest — or chilling of protective speech under threat of arrest — for alleged trespass on Postal Service property while committing no violation” would infringe on Davoli’s constitutional rights, Rothert wrote.
At the meeting, council member Lynn Ricci spoke up in support of the petitioners. “This just, to me, offends everything that we stand for,” she said. “You certainly have the ability to petition your government.”
But city officials maintain that what happened outside the post office was not an attack on Davoli’s First Amendment rights and was not related to the fact that the petitioners were collecting signatures for an audit of the city. “The idea that they’re somehow being treated differently” is wrong, said City Manager Julie Feier. “We get a call, we respond.”
On Sept. 17, Davoli and a group of other petitioners were collecting signatures outside the post office while being filmed by Fox 2 News. When the camera crew left after about 45 minutes, all of the petitioners did too, except for Davoli, who volunteered to stay and continue collecting signatures.
Records of calls to the police dispatch show that police became involved when a postal employee, who wished to remain anonymous, called about petitioners and a news crew outside the building, wondering whether their actions were allowed. “I don’t want to file a complaint because I don’t want this to be a big deal with the news,” the employee told the dispatcher, who said he would send someone to “check it out.” “Just don’t involve us, if possible,” the employee said.
The dispatcher then sent Officer Daur Nodari to the post office, where, according to Chief Adams, Nodari explained the complaint received and told Davoli he could not stand on the part of the sidewalk that was federal property and that it could be considered a disturbance of the peace. “At no time did he threaten [Davoli] with arrest,” Adams wrote in an explanatory e-mail to the city manager.
According to Davoli, Nodari then suggested Davoli move to either end of the building to collect signatures. Then he asked to see Davoli’s ID, which Davoli had left in his car. When he said he didn’t have it, Nodari asked for Davoli’s name, birth date, home address, phone number, height, weight and Social Security number.
“I felt very intimidated by the amount and type of information he was collecting about me because I was standing at the wrong place,” Davoli said. “When he told me I wasn’t supposed to be standing where I was, I had no idea, I don’t know the ordinance. I sort of felt uninformed, but then when he started taking down my personal information, I felt almost violated that I had to go through that when I had done nothing wrong.”
“[Nodari] recorded the identity of the gentleman, so he could reference whom he had spoken with in case of any further follow-up,” Adams wrote in his e-mail to the city manager.
When Davoli left the post office later that day, he sent petition organizer Carr an e-mail with the subject, “warning to all petitioners,” explaining what had happened to him. Carr went to the post office that same day to ask whether anyone had complained, and was told that no one had. Then she went to the police office, where she asked to see the ordinance that was violated and a record of complaint.
The police department cited the ordinance “Disturbing the Peace.” A violation includes being “in a public place or on private property…without consent and purposely [causing] inconvenience to another person or persons by unreasonably and physically obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic.” According to Carr, Nodari told her that Davoli had not violated the ordinance, but that he was simply giving Davoli a warning.
“Everything he said was appropriate; you can’t block the right of way,” City Manager Feier said. When Nodari went to the post office, “he didn’t even know the topic [Davoli] was petitioning about,” she emphasized. “All of this drama they continue to drum up for political purposes, I assume.”
But Carr disagreed. “It was clearly not an attempt to create drama,” she said. “That took up my entire afternoon to go over to the police department. It took off my time from petitioning.”
“I really don’t have any strong feelings for saying that was the intention for the outcome,” Davoli said. “We were just conducting our civil liberties and didn’t have control over the event.” He said the incident would not deter him from petitioning in the future. University City’s police department is under fire from the American Civil Liberties Union and from citizens claiming that a petitioner’s First Amendment rights were violated while he was collecting signatures in support of a state audit of the city’s finances. Robert Davoli, the petitioner, was collecting signatures outside the post office when a police officer told him he couldn’t petition on the part of the sidewalk where he was standing because it is federal property.
Along with petition organizer Paulette Carr, Davoli came to the city council meeting Sept. 21 to talk about what had happened. “That encounter amounted to intimidation of one of our petitioners,” Carr told the council.
“I view this as a violation of our rights to petition (a First Amendment right). And we have a right to do that free from the intimidation of a man who carries a badge and a gun, especially if we are not breaking any laws or ordinances,” she further explained in an e-mail.
In a letter addressed to University City Police Chief Charles Adams, attorney Anthony Rothert of the ACLU wrote that the police officer was wrong to tell Davoli to move. While collecting signatures, leafleting and campaigning is not permitted on post office property, such activities are permitted on a perimeter sidewalk outside of a post office that is indistinguishable from municipally-owned sidewalks, like the slab Davoli was standing on, according to 2005 amendments to the U.S. Postal Service regulations.
“Any arrest — or chilling of protective speech under threat of arrest — for alleged trespass on Postal Service property while committing no violation” would infringe on Davoli’s constitutional rights, Rothert wrote.
At the meeting, council member Lynn Ricci spoke up in support of the petitioners. “This just, to me, offends everything that we stand for,” she said. “You certainly have the ability to petition your government.”
But city officials maintain that what happened outside the post office was not an attack on Davoli’s First Amendment rights and was not related to the fact that the petitioners were collecting signatures for an audit of the city. “The idea that they’re somehow being treated differently” is wrong, said City Manager Julie Feier. “We get a call, we respond.”
On Sept. 17, Davoli and a group of other petitioners were collecting signatures outside the post office while being filmed by Fox 2 News. When the camera crew left after about 45 minutes, all of the petitioners did too, except for Davoli, who volunteered to stay and continue collecting signatures.
Records of calls to the police dispatch show that police became involved when a postal employee, who wished to remain anonymous, called about petitioners and a news crew outside the building, wondering whether their actions were allowed. “I don’t want to file a complaint because I don’t want this to be a big deal with the news,” the employee told the dispatcher, who said he would send someone to “check it out.” “Just don’t involve us, if possible,” the employee said.
The dispatcher then sent Officer Daur Nodari to the post office, where, according to Chief Adams, Nodari explained the complaint received and told Davoli he could not stand on the part of the sidewalk that was federal property and that it could be considered a disturbance of the peace. “At no time did he threaten [Davoli] with arrest,” Adams wrote in an explanatory e-mail to the city manager.
According to Davoli, Nodari then suggested Davoli move to either end of the building to collect signatures. Then he asked to see Davoli’s ID, which Davoli had left in his car. When he said he didn’t have it, Nodari asked for Davoli’s name, birth date, home address, phone number, height, weight and Social Security number.
“I felt very intimidated by the amount and type of information he was collecting about me because I was standing at the wrong place,” Davoli said. “When he told me I wasn’t supposed to be standing where I was, I had no idea, I don’t know the ordinance. I sort of felt uninformed, but then when he started taking down my personal information, I felt almost violated that I had to go through that when I had done nothing wrong.”
“[Nodari] recorded the identity of the gentleman, so he could reference whom he had spoken with in case of any further follow-up,” Adams wrote in his e-mail to the city manager.
When Davoli left the post office later that day, he sent petition organizer Carr an e-mail with the subject, “warning to all petitioners,” explaining what had happened to him. Carr went to the post office that same day to ask whether anyone had complained, and was told that no one had. Then she went to the police office, where she asked to see the ordinance that was violated and a record of complaint.
The police department cited the ordinance “Disturbing the Peace.” A violation includes being “in a public place or on private property…without consent and purposely [causing] inconvenience to another person or persons by unreasonably and physically obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic.” According to Carr, Nodari told her that Davoli had not violated the ordinance, but that he was simply giving Davoli a warning.
“Everything he said was appropriate; you can’t block the right of way,” City Manager Feier said. When Nodari went to the post office, “he didn’t even know the topic [Davoli] was petitioning about,” she emphasized. “All of this drama they continue to drum up for political purposes, I assume.”
But Carr disagreed. “It was clearly not an attempt to create drama,” she said. “That took up my entire afternoon to go over to the police department. It took off my time from petitioning.”
“I really don’t have any strong feelings for saying that was the intention for the outcome,” Davoli said. “We were just conducting our civil liberties and didn’t have control over the event.” He said the incident would not deter him from petitioning in the future.
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