Free speech and costly speech
2004-01-07 08:09
Columbia, South Carolina - A longtime political activist who entered a restricted area during a presidential visit in 2002 was fined $500 (about R3 300) on Tuesday in federal court.
US Magistrate Bristow Marchant did not give Brett Bursey, 55, jail time, saying the activist had been protesting peacefully and not engaged in any "wantonly criminal" act.
Bursey, who said he would appeal, originally was charged by local authorities with trespassing when he refused to move to a "free-speech zone" at the Columbia, South Carolina, airport. That charge was dropped, but the Justice Department decided to prosecute Bursey five months later under a law that allows the Secret Service to restrict access to areas during the president's travels.
"We may have lost this battle, but we're winning the war, and the war is keeping America a free-speech zone," Bursey said after the verdict.
Assistant US Attorney John Barton said Bursey was prosecuted federally because South Carolina law does not give local law enforcement the authority to prosecute incidents at Columbia Metropolitan Airport.
- SAPA