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+--- Thread: Robert groden sues dallas (/thread-4083.html)
Robert groden sues dallas - Bernice Moore - 01-07-2010
:ridinghorse: CAN SOMEONE ENABLE THIS LINK, I KEEP TRYING BUT, IT IS NOT, MANY THANKS..DARN THINGS
ecruity:.Bhttp://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2010/06/robert_groden_files_federal_su.php
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2010/06/robert_groden_files_federal_su.php
City Hall
Noted JFK Conspiracy Theorist Robert Groden Files Federal Suit Against Dallas, Claiming He Was Arrested and Harassed in Dealey Plaza
Maybe you heard: A couple of weeks ago, Dallas police began cracking down on vendors at Dealey Plaza selling maps, magazines, books and other conspiracy-theory whatnots. Deputy Police Chief Vince Golbeck said some folks down there were cussing at and spitting on visitors to the Kennedy assassination site, and "that's not the image we want portrayed."
![[Image: robert_2009.jpg]](http://www.deeppoliticsforum.com/forums/wlmailhtml:%7BF1C20502-51D3-4414-9198-DC6FAFD534A7%7Dmid://00000002/!x-usc:http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/robert_2009.jpg)
Robert GrodenBut Robert Groden hardly fits that description: He's among the best-known and most revered of all the conspiracy theorists. He's served as staff photographic consultant to the House Select Committee on Assassinations. Consulted on Oliver Stone's JFK. Wrote a number of books on the assassination you've probably heard of, chief among them High Treason: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy & the Case for Conspiracy.And, for almost nine hours on June 13, Groden sat in Lew Sterrett after DPD arrested him for selling his magazine JFK The Case for Conspiracy at Dealey Plaza without a permit -- even though the city does not offer permits to sell books, DVDs or magazines at Dealey Plaza. Groden was eventually charged with a Class C misdemeanor and released.
Today, he filed a federal suit against the city, claiming, among other things, DPD violated his First Amendment rights and falsely imprisoned him.
"If they can do it to me," Groden tells Unfair Park, "they can do it to anyone."
He's also claiming malicious prosecution. The complaint follows. City officials had not yet seen the suit when I asked for a comment.
This, incidentally, is not the first run-in Groden's had with Dallas police.
We first wrote about this in 1997, when Dealey Plaza vendors were under siege by DPD -- and the Sixth Floor Museum had plans to "manage Dealey Plaza," in the words of Jeff West, then the executive director of the museum. Said West, "We have had complaints from visitors about being harassed, accosted and just confused by who these vendors are."
But then, suddenly, police stopped bothering vendors, and it was back to business as usual -- until 2003, when, Groden says, he received 80 citations that were all eventually dismissed. It was, he says, "a case of harassment," nothing less.
Back then, he says, he was prepared to file a lawsuit like the one dropped off in court today by Fort Worth attorney Alex Tandy. But, he says, the City Attorney's Office "made an agreement: If I dropped the suit, they'd leave me alone, and for seven years there hasn't been a complaint or a run-in. Now, there are homeless guys who harass the visitors, but the police know who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. But they lied. They broke the agreement."
City attorneys maintain Dealey Plaza is under control of the Park and Recreation Department, and that Section 32.10 of the Dallas City Code makes it illegal to sell merch at the assassination site. It says, in whole:
It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or offer for sale any food, drinks, confections, merchandise or services in areas under the control of the park board unless such person has a written agreement or a permit issued from the office of the park board permitting the sale of such items. Application for such agreements or permits shall be made to the office of the park board.
City attorneys say that Groden can sell his magazine "adjacent to the outside perimeter of the park or on other public property." But once he steps foot in Dealey Plaza proper, he'll be subject to citation and arrest. Yet Groden says in his complaint when he tried to sell his material from the parking lot, he was also threatened with arrest if he didn't leave pronto.
Attorney Bradley Kizzia, who has represented Groden in the past, disagrees with the city's reading of the ordinance. He sent an e-mail to Assistant City Attorney Jackie Middlebrooks only today, in which he wrote:
We will just have to agree to disagree about the City's dubious allocation of limited police resources to ticket, arrest, and incarcerate JFK assassination researchers in Dealey Plaza. I do not think that the ordinance purportedly relied upon by the City is applicable or otherwise legally enforceable against Mr. Groden's exercise of his First Amendment rights in Dealey Plaza.
As you probably know, Mr. Groden has previously requested but has been denied a permit by the City on the stated grounds that there are no such permits. In fact, as you acknowledged on June 18, no one has ever been issued a permit by the City to sell books, newspapers, or DVDs in Dealey Plaza. The effect of this Catch-22 established by the City is to effectively prevent the sale at the site of the assassination of President Kennedy of any publications that offer evidence of a conspiracy behind the assassination. In my humble [opinion], this is not constitutionally permissible. Moreover, I certainly don't think that arresting and incarcerating authors such as Mr. Groden is an appropriate tactic for the City to take under the circumstances. But since the City apparently refuses to discuss some reasonable compromise, it appears that the legal system will now decide what is right and what is wrong in this matter.
More to come in the morning. Till then, the lawsuit's all yours.RobertGrodenvCityofDallas
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2010/06/robert_groden_files_federal_su.php
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2010/06/robert_groden_files_federal_su.php
Robert groden sues dallas - Bernice Moore - 01-07-2010
oct; 1997
Since last May, the Sixth Floor has been working with the city's Park and Recreation Department to develop an agreement for the museum "to manage Dealey Plaza," Jeff West, executive director of the museum, told the Morning News. He was then quoted as saying, "We hope our presence will rid the plaza of most of the conspiracy theorists and others of that kind there."
That last statement was all the evidence the vendors needed to believe that the Sixth Floor was somehow behind the sudden police presence on the plaza and their own mounting legal problems. Although West claims he was misquoted--"I never said it publicly or privately," he says--and insists his operation has not instigated the ticketing of the vendors, he makes no bones about the museum wanting its own presence on the plaza.
"We have had complaints from visitors about being harassed, accosted, and just confused by who these vendors are," West says. "At the museum, we strive to portray balance. The challenge in the plaza is that they are presenting only one point of view. We want to provide some balance out there as well."
West says that the Sixth Floor, which attracts only a quarter as many tourists as Dealey Plaza does, wants to put a kiosk on the plaza where it can sell film and maps and offer guided tours. But in fact, its intentions are more far-reaching than that. The Dallas County Historical Foundation, which runs the Sixth Floor Museum, wants to be "the exclusive manager" for the plaza, responsible for "operating, vending, leasing and servicing duties," according to documents the foundation filed with the city.
The Sixth Floor may want to rule the plaza, but not all the vendors believe the museum is responsible for instigating the ticketing. A small vendor faction, as well as some people associated with the museum, think that the complaints have been lodged from some jealous vendors intent on eliminating the competition. At least one vendor blames another vendor partial to the Oswald-as-lone-gunman theory of the assassination for siccing the police on the conspiracy theorists.
Regardless of what prompted the policing of the plaza, the vendors say the city is not playing fair. The Dallas City Code contains a confusing ordinance on street vendors that requires them to be permitted in certain circumstances.
However, the vendors claim they have had trouble getting straight answers from the city about how to go about obtaining a permit. While some see this as part of the conspiracy as well, it is probably more a function of bureaucratic ineptitude.
The city has instructed some of the vendors to contact the Health Department, which provides a limited number of vending permits for the Central Business District, including areas around the School Book Depository but not Dealey Plaza proper, which is governed by the Park Department. All of the Health Department permits available for this part of town, which is considered part of the West End Historic District, have already been issued.
The people who have contacted the Park Department have been given contradictory information. Some have been told they didn't need a permit to sell magazines or videos on the plaza, only to be ticketed anyway. Some were told they could sell printed materials without a permit, but not videos. Others were informed they couldn't sell anything without a permit, but when they inquired about getting one, they were told there weren't any available or were sent to the Health Department, where they came up empty-handed.
The Dallas Observer spent more than a day being transferred from one Park Department staff person to another trying to find someone who was in charge of issuing permits for Dealey Plaza. We finally found the right person--Ralph Mendez, assistant director for the eastern region of the Park Department, who says that the policy governing Dealey Plaza is still being worked out. According to Mendez, a potential Dealey Plaza vendor or tour guide has to submit to the Park Department a detailed proposal, which has to be approved by the Park Board and the City Council. So far the only people who seem to know about that policy are those who work for the Sixth Floor.
Even if the Sixth Floor and the city wanted to see the vendors gone, Jeff West thinks they are probably protected by the constitutional right to free speech. That point has actually crossed the minds of the people who run the Park Department. Not sure whether the city code gives them the right to stop people from selling certain material on the plaza, they recently asked the city attorney's office to research the matter, says Mendez.
Nevertheless, the police continue to roust the conspiracy theorists, even while the kinks in the ordinance are being worked out.
http://www.dallasobserver.com/1997-10-30/news/conspiracy-theory/1
Robert groden sues dallas - Dawn Meredith - 01-07-2010
This could get very interesting. Robert is not a quitter. Nor can he be bought off. I wonder if the media will cover this. I won't hold my breath.
Maybe Geraldo, since he was the first to show The Zapruder film in 1975.
Oh yea, he's on Faxu now...but wait Glen Beck, he talks about the NWO.
He'd be perfect.
Good for Robert to demand justice.
And just in time for Jackie's tapes, which allegedly contain bombshells.
"Conspiracy?" "Yes", said Jackie O.
Dawn
Robert groden sues dallas - Peter Lemkin - 01-07-2010
Is Brad Kizzia going to handle the case this time? I hope so! Go Brad Go!:ridinghorse:
Robert groden sues dallas - Phil Dragoo - 01-07-2010
"We hope our presence will rid the plaza of most of the conspiracy theorists and others of that kind there."
![[Image: feqark.jpg]](http://i48.tinypic.com/feqark.jpg)
Robert groden sues dallas - Dawn Meredith - 02-07-2010
Peter Lemkin Wrote:Is Brad Kizzia going to handle the case this time? I hope so! Go Brad Go!:ridinghorse:
That appears to be the case. (See Bernice's article above).
Dawn
Robert groden sues dallas - Jack White - 02-07-2010
Attorneys are Alex Tandy and Lindsay Gilliland, according
to the Dallas Observer:
"Still waiting for Official Word from the city concerning Robert Groden's lawsuit filed yesterday concerning his ability -- or, in this case, inability -- to sell his conspiracy-theory publications in Dealey Plaza. But when we went down to the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse, we left behind one significant document: Groden's application for a temporary restraining order and temporary injunction against the city.
Says Lindsay Gilliland, an attorney repping Groden, "Hopefully he can continue his business while the lawsuit is pending."
The 15-page application follow. But in it, Fort Worth attorney Alex Tandy writes:
Issuance of a temporary restraining order would not adversely affect the public interest and public policy because [Groden] is an expert whose business and publications are educational resources for the public which offer alternate theories regarding the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy for those who may be interested.
Tandy also includes in his application a letter sent last week to Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm, in which he writes that, sure, Park and Rec says Groden needs a permit to sell his wares in Dealey Plaza. Only: "No permits apparently exist."
A hearing has been set for 3 p.m. Tuesday in U.S. District Judge Royal Furgeson's court.
Robert groden sues dallas - Dawn Meredith - 02-07-2010
Thanks Jack, there was an article posted several places on fb but when I clicked on the article all that was there were the comments to the article.
Hmmmmm.
Dawn
Robert groden sues dallas - Peter Lemkin - 02-07-2010
Jack White Wrote:Attorneys are Alex Tandy and Lindsay Gilliland, according
to the Dallas Observer:
"Still waiting for Official Word from the city concerning Robert Groden's lawsuit filed yesterday concerning his ability -- or, in this case, inability -- to sell his conspiracy-theory publications in Dealey Plaza. But when we went down to the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse, we left behind one significant document: Groden's application for a temporary restraining order and temporary injunction against the city.
Says Lindsay Gilliland, an attorney repping Groden, "Hopefully he can continue his business while the lawsuit is pending."
The 15-page application follow. But in it, Fort Worth attorney Alex Tandy writes:
Issuance of a temporary restraining order would not adversely affect the public interest and public policy because [Groden] is an expert whose business and publications are educational resources for the public which offer alternate theories regarding the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy for those who may be interested.
Tandy also includes in his application a letter sent last week to Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm, in which he writes that, sure, Park and Rec says Groden needs a permit to sell his wares in Dealey Plaza. Only: "No permits apparently exist."
A hearing has been set for 3 p.m. Tuesday in U.S. District Judge Royal Furgeson's court.
This is getting interesting!......discovery vis-a-vis the 6FM might well be interesting....among others. I'm not sure if discovery is allowed of the police...:elefant: :nurse:
Robert groden sues dallas - Bernice Moore - 02-07-2010
VIDEO NEWS REPORT ROBERT GRODEN........
B
http://tinyurl.com/28cyyso