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1st Amendment rights of FF's & PD violated
By LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - The city violated the First Amendment rights of
two firefighters and a police officer when it fired them for riding
on a parade float in blackface in 1998, a judge ruled Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge John E. Sprizzo said the government "may
not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because a segment of
society finds it offensive."
He rejected statements by former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani that the
firings stemmed from concerns over civil unrest, saying he
concluded that the "true motivation" was Giuliani's belief that
the float was a "disgusting display of racism."
At the time, Giuliani publicly declared, "They will be fired."
On Tuesday, Giuliani predicted the ruling eventually will be
reversed and said in an interview that it "flies in the face of
any rational decision a city could make in a case like this."
He said the city was well within its discretion to say that it
cannot have the confidence of its citizens "if it has a police
officer and firefighters who engage in racial mockery."
Kate O'Brien Ahlers, a spokeswoman for the city law office,
said, "We will definitely be appealing this."
The ruling determined liability. A second stage of court
hearings will decide the remedy. Lawyers for the defendants said
they expect to win their jobs back.
Those on the Labor Day float in Broad Channel, Queens, threw
watermelon and fried chicken to paradegoers and made it appear as
if one of the men in blackface was being dragged, the city
contended. The controversy erupted the same summer that James Byrd
Jr., a black man in Jasper, Texas, was dragged to his death from a
pickup truck.
Sprizzo ruled after hearing evidence earlier this year,
including testimony from Giuliani, who said he urged the firing of
the three city employees because he feared the controversy might
lead to race riots.
The judge said the city terminated the workers "in response to
the content of their speech and for reasons of public perception
and the political impact expected to flow therefrom."
The white employees - firefighters Jonathan Walters and Robert
Steiner and police officer Joseph Locurto - sued the city to get
their jobs back.
They testified that they had no racist intent and that their
actions were protected by the First Amendment because the float was
a parody.
The firefighters said they meant to poke fun at their
predominantly white community's racist views with the "Black to
the Future 2098" float. They said they used stereotypes, such as
the blackface and Afro wigs, because that's the way community
residents perceived blacks.
In earlier years, floats in the parade similarly mocked Hasidic
Jews, gays and Asians.
Chris Dunn, a staff attorney with the New York Civil Liberties
Union, said the ruling "sends a message that city employees can't
be scapegoated to serve a mayor's political agenda and that's
exactly what happened here."
Dunn, who represents Locurto, said he had argued from the start
that Giuliani ordered the firing of Locurto "not out of a concern
for any disruption but to atone for the mayor's own racial
insensitivity."
Giuliani was listed as a defendant in the case in his role as
mayor.
Michael N. Block, a lawyer for Walters, said he and his client
were "very pleased."
Robert Didio, a lawyer for Steiner, said he was "absolutely
thrilled."
"It shows that the little guy can fight back," he said. "This
was unfortunately a situation where Mr. Steiner did something
foolish, and he recognizes that. But the penalty imposed by the
mayor and the fire commissioner was not consistent with the actions
on the float."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday called the behavior of those
on the float a "disgrace and totally inappropriate for city
employees."
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - The city violated the First Amendment rights of
two firefighters and a police officer when it fired them for riding
on a parade float in blackface in 1998, a judge ruled Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge John E. Sprizzo said the government "may
not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because a segment of
society finds it offensive."
He rejected statements by former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani that the
firings stemmed from concerns over civil unrest, saying he
concluded that the "true motivation" was Giuliani's belief that
the float was a "disgusting display of racism."
At the time, Giuliani publicly declared, "They will be fired."
On Tuesday, Giuliani predicted the ruling eventually will be
reversed and said in an interview that it "flies in the face of
any rational decision a city could make in a case like this."
He said the city was well within its discretion to say that it
cannot have the confidence of its citizens "if it has a police
officer and firefighters who engage in racial mockery."
Kate O'Brien Ahlers, a spokeswoman for the city law office,
said, "We will definitely be appealing this."
The ruling determined liability. A second stage of court
hearings will decide the remedy. Lawyers for the defendants said
they expect to win their jobs back.
Those on the Labor Day float in Broad Channel, Queens, threw
watermelon and fried chicken to paradegoers and made it appear as
if one of the men in blackface was being dragged, the city
contended. The controversy erupted the same summer that James Byrd
Jr., a black man in Jasper, Texas, was dragged to his death from a
pickup truck.
Sprizzo ruled after hearing evidence earlier this year,
including testimony from Giuliani, who said he urged the firing of
the three city employees because he feared the controversy might
lead to race riots.
The judge said the city terminated the workers "in response to
the content of their speech and for reasons of public perception
and the political impact expected to flow therefrom."
The white employees - firefighters Jonathan Walters and Robert
Steiner and police officer Joseph Locurto - sued the city to get
their jobs back.
They testified that they had no racist intent and that their
actions were protected by the First Amendment because the float was
a parody.
The firefighters said they meant to poke fun at their
predominantly white community's racist views with the "Black to
the Future 2098" float. They said they used stereotypes, such as
the blackface and Afro wigs, because that's the way community
residents perceived blacks.
In earlier years, floats in the parade similarly mocked Hasidic
Jews, gays and Asians.
Chris Dunn, a staff attorney with the New York Civil Liberties
Union, said the ruling "sends a message that city employees can't
be scapegoated to serve a mayor's political agenda and that's
exactly what happened here."
Dunn, who represents Locurto, said he had argued from the start
that Giuliani ordered the firing of Locurto "not out of a concern
for any disruption but to atone for the mayor's own racial
insensitivity."
Giuliani was listed as a defendant in the case in his role as
mayor.
Michael N. Block, a lawyer for Walters, said he and his client
were "very pleased."
Robert Didio, a lawyer for Steiner, said he was "absolutely
thrilled."
"It shows that the little guy can fight back," he said. "This
was unfortunately a situation where Mr. Steiner did something
foolish, and he recognizes that. But the penalty imposed by the
mayor and the fire commissioner was not consistent with the actions
on the float."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday called the behavior of those
on the float a "disgrace and totally inappropriate for city
employees."
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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