Magistrate rules Columbus not bound to pay SOA legal fees

Posted 8:09AM on Friday 25th January 2002 ( 23 years ago )

COLUMBUS - A U.S. magistrate has ruled that the city of Columbus is not responsible for more than $16,000 in fees for SOA Watch lawyers who fought to prevent the city from blocking an annual protest at the gates of Fort Benning. Magistrate G. Mallon Faircloth found Thursday that the group failed to show that the city's action was frivolous, unreasonable, lacked foundation or was brought in bad faith. Three American Civil Liberties Union lawyers and a San Francisco civil rights lawyer represented the SOA Watch, which demonstrates each November to protest a school for Latin American soldiers located on the post. The Army said it could not allow the latest demonstration, Nov. 17-18, outside Fort Benning because of security concerns after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. SOA Watch voluntarily negotiated a permit to locate the protest at Golden Park, but also planned a non-permitted march at the gates of the military reservation, Faircloth noted. The city attempted to block the demonstration just three days before it was to be held, but Faircloth struck down the city's efforts as a violation of citizens' constitutional right to assemble peacefully. Columbus officials said the city should not be required to pay the attorneys' fees because SOA Watch had acted in bad faith by encouraging the non-permitted march. The city's final price tag for the protest, consisting primarily of personnel and overtime costs for public safety workers, exceeds $137,000 without the attorney fees. SOA Watch holds annual demonstrations at Fort Benning's main gate to protest the training center once known as the School of the Americas, a U.S. Army school for Latin American soldiers. SOA Watch blames the school for human rights abuses committed by some of its graduates. The school is now operated by the Department of Defense as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/1/199656