01.16.08
ACLU Shames WCCC – Free Speech Under Attack
If someone didn’t already know that the Republican Party truly is the party of the elite, who don’t want to mingle with the unwashed masses, then this should cement it for them. Looking at the kind of discriminatory tactics that our one party, Republican, government in Williamson County have put into place, it’s obvious our elected representatives in Georgetown only want the “right” kind of people addressing them, and to do it in a manner they find pleasing.
Yesterday Rebecca Bernhardt, Policy Development Director for the ACLU Foundation of Texas spoke at the Williamson County Commissioners Court (WCCC) meeting regarding the Rules of Conduct, Procedure & Decorum they adopted in October 2007. I received an email yesterday regarding what she said.
Really effective presentation by the ACLU att’y, Rebecca Bernhardt, @ WCCC this morning; she pointed out that many of the attendees would not pass strict interpretation of the dress code because they were in jeans, and that some of them had made statements that others in attendance certainly could have found insulting; then she reminded them of the importance of free speech in a participatory democracy and asked them to reconsider the language of their ordinance relating to those issues. Very dignified, instructive and non-confrontational.
Reports last night from KXAN w/video, (ACLU Asks Williamson County To Change Dress Code Rules) and News 8 (New Wilco Court rules scrutinized by ACLU) seem to echo those sentiments.
A revised policy enacted back in October states that during public comments, profane, insulting or threatening language toward any member of the commissioners’ court will not be tolerated.
“The word insulting is very vague and over broad and could include a lot of public comments that are of public value,” ACLU’s Rebecca Bernhardt said.
Bernhardt points out that members of the public are allowed to disagree with their elected officials, whether those officials find it insulting or not.
“It’s a violation of people’s right to freedom of speech to say you can comment as long as it’s positive or neutral, but not negative, because we really don’t want to hear it if you don’t like what we’re doing,” Bernhardt said.
County Judge Dan Gattis defends the new policies. He said they’re necessary to maintain decorum.
“I’ll stand by that. We’ve had people come in and point their fingers and basically screamed at people in the court, and that is not something we intend to tolerate. We will continue to enforce that,” Gattis said.
You can read Gattis’ former statements on the dress code and the need to revisit it here. The rules will change or the county will be sued and forced to change them, the WCCC surely is aware of that.
The court plans to evaluate the policy to see if they can make the language clearer.
The ACLU said they’ll wait and see what the court decides before taking any further action.
Williamson County is not a dictatorship and the US Constitution takes precedence. Especially over the wishes and hurt feelings of the members of the WCCC, when having to face redress from the citizenry, some of whom may be wearing blue jeans and using words they don’t want to hear.
But this is just more of the familiar pattern we’ve seen in Williamson County over the last several years. The GOP machine that runs Williamson County is not used to having their decisions questioned, or being held to account, when trying to keep it’s decisions from public view. Once found out, they then try to make any dissent go away. With the increased population and needs of the county also comes increased scrutiny and a much bigger need for competent leadership.
When a deal is made to imprison mothers and children, now it will be noticed. When an already bad landfill contract is made worse – detrimental for local citizens and taxpayers and a gain for local politicians and a corporation – now it will be noticed. When the accused are denied their right to counsel, now it will be noticed. When meetings run afoul of the Open Meetings Act, now it will be noticed. And the list goes on. And they may have violated the open meeting rules again yesterday, again from email:
Judge Gattis failed to formally call the meeting to order. Technically, no business can be transacted without calling the meeting to order in some formal manner.
It would seem by now that the court would know they’re being watched and would make sure they’re obeying open meeting laws. Maybe someone should buy the court members a copy of Robert’s Rules of Order? With the size and scope of the business the WCCC conducts, and the amount of people their decisions effect, it’s only logical that the scrutiny they’re are under would increase too. The hope is that these are just neophyte, machine, elected officials that aren’t aware of what they’re doing. Not a bunch of elitist Republicans that just want the public to sit back and accept everything they do without question.
Combine this with the story below and it’s pretty obvious that free speech in under attack in Williamson County.
remerson said,
January 16, 2008 at 4:44 pm
The WCCC continues to insult the citizens by their outlandish dress code and gag rule; on the pretext of “decorum,” they deny basic Constitutional rights of participatory government to the citizens and democratic process they have been elected to serve, under oath!
These people are beyond arrogant; they border on dictatorial. It is time for a drastic change.
Texas Progressive Alliance Round Up Jan 21 | BlueBloggin said,
January 21, 2008 at 10:44 am
[...] WCNews at Eye On Williamson points out that Democrat Diana Maldonado Out-Raises All Candidates In HD-52 and shows the problem with one-party government in ACLU Shames WCCC – Free Speech Under Attack. [...]
Eye on Williamson » Texas Blog Round Up (January 21, 2008) said,
January 21, 2008 at 10:09 pm
[...] WCNews at Eye On Williamson points out that Democrat Diana Maldonado Out-Raises All Candidates In HD-52 and shows the problem with one-party government in ACLU Shames WCCC – Free Speech Under Attack. [...]
Bill Aleshire said,
January 25, 2008 at 6:28 am
It appears that the Williamson County Commissioners’ Court is struggling to understand and apply the concept of a democracy (“of the people, by the people, and for the people”). These rules sound more like something King George would have required of his subjects in order for them to get an audience before His Majesty.
There is just something offensive to true believers in democracy when you read rule language like “The business of Williamson County is conducted by and between the members of the Williamson County Commissioners Court and by those…members of the public requested to be present and participate.”
Some of these rules betray an attitude of sanctimony and a regal view of themselves that conflicts with the notion that they are servants of the people. My first thought after reading these rules was, “Who the Hell do these people think they are?” Having said that, I suppose I just violated Rule IV(F) prohibiting “profane, insulting…language directed toward the Court….”
This Commissioners’ “Court” is confused about their function. When they hold their “legislative” sessions conducting the county’s business, the Commissioners’ Court is not operating in the judicial capacity as a court. Rules that apply to attorneys and witnesses in a staid courtroom do not fit well in what is really a legislative debate and hearing environment or a “town meeting..” For years, people have been confused about why the Commissioners’ Court is called a “court” when they are really acting more like just a city council at the county level. I’m surprised that confusion abounds with the County Commissioners themselves.
I also note that whatever legal research they did to support their highfaluting language in their “We’re a Real Court!” Rule IV(D) is additionally flawed by the citation to their power to issue Contempt of Court citation “under Section 81.024 of the Texas Local Government Code.” They do have that power, but that section was renumbered in 1999 as Section 81.023. In addition, the attached Interpretative Commentary about the Constitutional article 5, section 18 on which they rely for their view of themselves as a “court” (and the attendant rules of dress code and decorum) contradicts their view: “The county commissioners court, then, has none of the functions of a court, but is the general governing body of the county.”
I spent 12 years as the County Judge in Commissioners’ Court meetings in Travis County. My colleagues and I often sat there and took abuse from the “black helicopter” types and others, but we did it because we understood our role and responsibility: we worked for and reported to them, not the other way around. While I certainly understand the Commissioners’ Court’s legitimate desire to keep their meeting organized and productive, these rules are extreme by requiring a dress code, prohibiting press interviews even during meeting breaks, prohibiting anyone from saying anything insulting to them, threatening to issue contempt citations, and by claiming that they only conduct county business with members of the public they “requested to be present and participate.”
Eye on Williamson » Bill Aleshire On The WCCC’s Rules said,
January 26, 2008 at 11:11 am
[...] form the comments to this post, ACLU Shames WCCC – Free Speech Under Attack. Thanks Bill Aleshire for adding to this [...]
Eye on Williamson » Greg Windham Asked To Leave Commissioners Court Meeting Yesterday said,
July 30, 2008 at 9:05 am
[...] speaking at court meetings. And, of course, how these “new” rules would be interpreted was a concern from the beginning. From yesterday’s actions it’s pretty clear that the commissioners no longer want to [...]
Eye on Williamson » Judge Gattis Goes After Free Speech Again said,
August 15, 2008 at 11:34 am
[...] to close down government to the public is, unfortunately, nothing new for Gattis, (See Free Speech Under Attack). The funny, in a sad way part of this, is that Gattis didn’t really seem to know what he was [...]
Eye on Williamson » RRL does softball mid-term interview with County Judge Gattis said,
December 15, 2008 at 4:32 pm
[...] Let’s hope. (The RRL only mentions three controversies but there were several others. The disastrous dress code that was rolled back, Judge Gattis is still flouting the AG’s opinion and acting as the [...]