Civil Liberties
Perhaps because of the large number of outspoken and thoughtful people in our community, we have often found ourselves at ground zero in battles over civil liberties. In the 1980's Chapel Hill elected the first openly-gay elected official in the state, but Carrboro bested that by electing North Carolina’s first out mayor a decade later.
More recently, Chapel Hill grappled with free speech issues in the wake of 9/11, approved and then dismantled red light cameras in 2003-4, and was challenged by fundamentalists over support for gay marriage in 2005.
New press release from Occupy Chapel Hill/Carrboro:
(Chapel Hill, North Carolina) (November 21, 2011) -- On Monday, November 21st, Occupy Chapel Hill/Carrboro will not be holding its regular 6pm General Assembly at Peace and Justice Plaza on Franklin Street. Instead, we are coming together for a peaceful protest and march in opposition to the repression of, and excessive show of force against, the occupation of 419 W Franklin St.
The protest will commence at 6pm, at Chapel Hill Police Headquarters, and after peacefully demonstrating there, we will walk to Town Hall to participate in the 7pm Town Council Meeting.
Date:
Monday, November 21, 2011 - 6:00pm
Location:
CH Police Headquarters & CH Town Hall
I just sent the following to the Mayor and Town Council of Chapel Hill. It somewhat re-hashes my previous comments here on OP, so I'm not going to front-page it, but wanted it to be on the record.
I was extremely disappointed to see the Town handle the anarchist break-in at the Yates Building so poorly after working so well with the activists at Occupy Chapel Hill/Carrboro for the past month. What happened last weekend played into every simplistic anarcho-fantasy about jack-booted thugs violently protecting the wealthy. That's not the Chapel Hill we know, but there is a vocal group of residents that now may never believe otherwise.
I'm undecided about Jim Neal's specific proposal for an independent commission to study the events of last weekend. Do we really have to empanel a committee to tell us what almost everyone knows (at least in retrospect), which is that the police action was unnecessarily forceful and overly broad? However, I very much want and need some clearer answers from the Town of Chapel Hill.
A message from Steve Dear:
Thank you again for your endorsement of the Carrboro Leader
Letter calling on the town to rescind its anti-loitering ordinance regarding
the corner of Jones Ferry and Davie rds.
I am writing with
good news. The Board of Aldermen is holding a public hearing on Tuesday
night, Nov. 22 at the town hall at 7:30 p.m. On behalf of all the people and
groups involved in this effort I invite and encourage you to come to the public
hearing and speak to why you oppose the ordinance.
While last month the board voted 4-3 to keep the
ordinance, Mayor Chilton has since posted on the Orange Politics blog
and his
Facebook page that he expects the board to vote to rescind the ordinance
next Tuesday night – implying that he will change his vote.
We need to keep up the friendly pressure until the ordinance
is taken off the books.
Along those lines I invite you to join me and some other
folks who have been going to the corner every weekday at noon for lunch and
good conversation since last month. Although we are violating the ordinance and
the police have driven by, clearly the powers that be have decided not to
enforce the ordinance on us. Today we were joined by some of day laborers
who gave us their deepest thanks for all of our work on this. They too, are
going to come speak on Tuesday. I am making signs with them this weekend and
they are going to post the signs in the area announcing the hearing.
So I hope to see you Monday and Tuesday at noon and, most
importantly, on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Carrboro Town Hall, 301 W. Main
St., Carrboro. Thanks!
Date:
Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - 7:30pm
Many questions remain unanswered in regard to the
Chapel Hill Police Department's deployment Sunday of a heavily-armed Special Emergency Response Team to clear a private building in Chapel Hill that had been occupied by a group of protesters.
Seven people were arrested and charged with misdemeanor breaking and entering.
I submitted a petition Monday afternoon to to the Chapel Hill Town Council calling for the appointment of an independent commission to review the events leading up to yesterday's deployment of the SERT unit. Residents of Chapel Hill are divided, one camp outraged by what they deem to be an unmeasured response by a SWAT team and the other yielding to the professional judgment of the CHPD. Neither side has the facts to which the public is entitled in order understand the events that led to yesterday's display of lethal force by the Chapel Hill Police Department.
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