Dallas Bans Free Speech, Overpasses For America Sues

Editor’s Note: Such protests have been held and are upcoming events in our county

by Merrill Hope

DALLAS, Texas — It is one of those sci-fi collides with real life moments like in “The Giver,” Lois Lowry’s dystopian novel where freedoms are traded in for the public safety, only here it’s the Dallas City Council and it’s a “free speech ban” in the City of Dallas that’s allegedly for the public’s own good. Overpasses For America (OFA), a non-partisan grassroots group, is challenging the constitutionality of that ban in federal court.

On August 13th, Sr. Trial Counsel Erin Mersino from the Ann Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) and Texas co-counsel, Jerad Najvar, filed the OFA civil rights action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division.

This is the result of a 2014 “free speech ban” that precluded OFA’s right to assemble peacefully on overpasses within the Dallas city limits as of March 15th. OFA had held a small gathering on the Northaven overpass at the Dallas North Tollway on March 1st. The lawsuit stated that “the free speech assembly was a success and posted no public or traffic safety concerns.” It also pointed out that the event was organized “in cooperation with law enforcement from the Dallas Police Department with a Director of Homeland Security in Dallas.”

Since it was successful, OFA Texas state leader Valerie Villarreal, named in the lawsuit, was planning the next one for March 15th; however, “Plaintiffs were informed that they would not be allowed to hold their free speech assembly because the Dallas Police Department was now obligated to enforce the City of Dallas free speech ban,” according to the lawsuit.

To read the rest of the article on Britbart News: HERE

________________________________________________________