BY JEFFREY JONES
MINNEAPOLIS - Supporters of free speech here are fighting to overturn two city ordinances regulating the sale and posting of political literature, arguing that they violate First Amendment rights.

Minneapolis mayor Sharon Sayles-Belton has begun to receive letters denouncing citations issued against Doug Jenness, who is a campaign supporter of Jennifer Benton, Socialist Workers Party candidate for mayor, for selling the Militant and posting fliers.

Among the letters are those from Chris Spotted Eagle, Native American activist, filmmaker and board member of the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union; Roxanne Gould, Director of the American Indian Learning Resource Center at the University of Minnesota; and Tim Davis, Chairperson of the Grassroots Party of Minnesota. More than 150 names have been collected on petitions demanding that the charges against Jenness be dismissed.

A public meeting, hosted by the Militant Labor Forum, has been set for October 10 to hear speakers and messages calling for dismissal of the citations and support for a civil lawsuit against the ordinances that were allegedly violated.

At a news conference here on September 18, Benton announced that she had filed the legal action that day in U.S. District Court. The complaint contends that the city ordinances "leave the right to exercise First Amendment activity to the unbridled discretion of governmental officials, without setting forth definite, objective standards for the exercise of that discretion."

Randall Tigue, a prominent civil liberties attorney locally and Benton's lawyer, also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order that would bar the city from enforcing the ordinances in question while a ruling on the suit is being considered.

U.S. District Judge John Tunheim will hear the arguments on the suit, but no date has been set. Jenness' arraignment is October 8. The maximum penalty is $700 and 90 days in jail for each citation.

The citations against Jenness, who was also the SWP candidate for mayor of St. Paul, were issued when he was staffing a campaign table on Lake Street and Hennepin Avenue, the city intersection with the most foot traffic. A Minneapolis police officer, moonlighting for an association of area merchants, gave a citation for selling the Militant without a permit and another for posting a campaign flier on a lamppost.

"Even though Socialist Workers campaigners have had tables many times in the past few years on this intersection," Benton stated, "this was the first time they have even been warned, let alone cited, under these ordinances."

Tigue told a St. Paul Pioneer Press reporter that the absence of standards in granting licenses for selling and posting means "the department head and the City Council person of that ward has the discretion. So they could say, Sharon Sayles-Belton could sell literature but Jennifer Benton could not."

Sayles-Belton is running for reelection as mayor of Minneapolis and is backed by the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party. The Republican-endorsed contender is Barbara Carlson, a former radio talk show host.

Benton, who placed eighth out of 14 candidates in the September 9 "nonpartisan primary," is continuing her campaign and is calling for write-in votes.

Sayles-Belton, responding to a request from Benton that the citations be dismissed, said she supports "First Amendment rights of free speech and your right to conduct a political campaign. The exercise of these rights may, however, be subject to civil and criminal regulation." In her letter, the mayor referred Benton to the city attorney's office.

Benton said that "Sayles-Belton has avoided taking a stand against these undemocratic ordinances and acts as if she has no influence. We're going to keep the pressure on her to dismiss the citations and support the effort to overturn the ordinances."  
 
 
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