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ST. LOUIS RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

ACLU says suit filed by protester in women's march is about constitutional rights

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Missouri recently filed a lawsuit claiming the arrest of a woman during a women's march in 2017 was a violation of her constitutional rights. 

The lawsuit was filed Dec. 6 concerning the women's march that took place in St. Louis on Jan. 21, 2017, in protest of the inauguration of President Donald Trump, a posting on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website said. 

According to the case, the plaintiff, Jessica Langford, was arrested during the march when police officers demanded that the marchers move to the sidewalk. The suit claims Langford  was not blocking any traffic and she refused to move.

Langford and the ACLU are claiming that the police violated Langford's free speech rights by interfering with the protest and detaining her for nine hours following the incident. 

The ACLU said that it is imperative that the city of St. Louis realize that the free speech rights of individuals are of the utmost importance.

"People must have be able to exercise their First Amendment rights," Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri, recently told the St. Louis Record. "St. Louis will continue to violate the law until its leaders proactively address the city ordinance and the lack of accountability in the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department."

The ACLU has been involved in a number of lawsuits over the last few years in which protesters and police officers have been involved in what they allege to be constitutional rights violations, such as in 2015 when police officers used pepper spray against a small gathering of peaceful observers that remained after a demonstration.

Progress on the case has yet to be reported, though the ACLU is determined in their fight.

"The people deserve to exercise their constitutional rights without fear of retaliation, excessive force or unlawful arrest," Jeffrey Mittmas, executive director of the ACLU  of Missouri, said.

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