Corrie Ort | 22.05.2005 18:21

Erik Olson, Kevin Nash, and David Rodriguez-Acevedo were found guilty of targeted residential picketing of the mayor’s house in San Diego. The three men are part of an organization called the Invest-In Project which works to call attention to, and eventually change, human rights abuses. They model their activism on the sit-ins of the Civil Rights Movement.

First article on this topic - Justice in San Diego:
 http://sandiego.indymedia.org/en/2005/05/108907.shtml

During the trial the defendants called other members to testify about the group’s year- long campaign to call the attention of the city government to problems in the city, to raise awareness among the general public of these issues, and to the unresponsiveness of the city’s government, in particular Mayor Dick Murphy. They had also hoped that this testimony would demonstrate the difference between picketing and holding a vigil, as the ordinance under which they were arrested specifies which behaviors constitute picketing. The judge did not allow this testimony, calling it irrelevant to the question of whether the defendants were in front of the mayor’s house when they were arrested.

At the time of their arrest, the men had a display of pictures of Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Cesar Chavez, and Eleanor Roosevelt on the sidewalk, facing away from the home of the mayor, lit by votive candles. They fasted and prayed quietly during this time. They did not carry signs, nor walk back and forth, and they did not target the mayor personally. The defendants had built their defense refuting the charges of targeted residential picketing, not on whether they were in front of the mayor’s house.

The prosecuting attorney argued on behalf of the mayor, who was not in court, that the presence of the three defendants violated the privacy of his home. The mayor has previously held press conferences and other public events at his home. The prosecutor presented photographs of the display arguing that the pictures of Martin Luther King Jr. and others frightened the mayor’s family and his neighbors. The display could not be seen from the residences.

Members of the city’s Human Relations Committee were subpoenaed to testify about the group’s efforts to persuade the city government to have a shelter for the homeless open year around, to improve the quality of education in lower income areas of the city where the dropout rate is 38% overall and as high as 80% in some schools, to resolve the problem of 22% of children lacking medical insurance, and to address the lack of affordable housing, all this in what is called “America’s finest city.” Testimony from these members of the Human Relations Committee was not admitted on the basis that it did not say anything about the men’s presence in front of the mayor’s home on the night they were arrested.

Although the judge admitted the Invest-In Project’s campaign timeline over the past year and a half as evidence for the jury, he limited witness testimonies to the night of the arrest only. The defendants were not permitted to build a case around the distinction of picketing or holding a vigil, or their unsuccessful attempts to communicate with city government through regular channels. With this limited information, the jury deliberated one hour to return the verdict of “guilty” to targeted residential picketing. In being found guilty, the three men join the ranks of other Human Rights defenders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi.

At the end of the trial Judge Richard Hanscom commended the three men on their own defense, saying most professional lawyers would not have done as well. Sentencing will occur May 31.

And such is justice carried out, and the social order preserved in San Diego, California.

e-mail:: corrieort@cox.net