Prattville Pride files an injunction to secure its spot in the Christmas parade

Prattville Pride has filed a motion in federal court to prevent the city of Prattville from blocking its participation in tomorrow night’s annual Christmas parade.

Local attorney Julia Collins delivered notice of the injunction to Gillespie Thursday evening as residents and city officials gathered for the traditional Christmas tree lighting ceremony.

“Plaintiffs believe that the evidence in this lawsuit will show that the City of Prattville and Mayor Gillespie had no legitimate concerns or credible evidence of a threat to public safety and that no criminal investigation or charges were brought against anyone who threatened the safety of.” endangering anyone.” the “Christmas in Prattville Christmas Parade” and that the decision to remove Prattville Pride from the “Christmas in Prattville Christmas Parade” is nothing other than the City of Prattville and Mayor Gillespie “They are bowing to pressure from extremists and community heckling that opposes the views of Prattville Pride,” the group states in its filing in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

The motion comes just 25 hours before the Christmas parade, which begins on Friday, December 6, at 7 p.m.

“We have filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Prattville alleging a violation of our First and Fourteenth Amendment rights and seeking redress from the City. We believe the law is clearly on our side and hope that the injunction will be granted, and we will be able to participate in the parade. For those of you who wanted to help us build the float tomorrow, we will proceed in the hope that the injunction is granted and we can all participate. We are so grateful for the support we have received.”

The request for a preliminary injunction is similar to a 2017 case in which U.S. District Judge W. Keith Watkins ruled that Auburn University could not cancel white nationalist Richard Spencer’s speech because of “security concerns” stemming from threats of violence from his opponents in attendance on campus.

“The Court concludes that Auburn University canceled the speech because it assumed that listeners and protest groups opposed to Mr. Spencer’s ideology would respond to the content of his speech by engaging in protests , which could result in violence or property damage,” Watkins wrote in his ruling report. “However, discrimination based on message content ‘cannot be tolerated under the First Amendment’ and ‘listener response to speech is not a content-neutral basis for regulation’.”

Not only did Watkins demand that the university allow the event to take place as planned, he also ordered them to provide security and limited the university’s ability to suppress Spencer’s speech during the event.

“Security personnel may not prevent the free expression of Mr. Spencer or any other person except as a last resort to ensure safety or to prevent violence or damage to property, and only after first….”bona fide Efforts to present the speaker. to protect. . . hostility by other, less restrictive means,” Watkins wrote.

Andrew Odom, attorney for the city of Prattville, warned council members at their council meeting Tuesday night that any measure that would result in a “prior restriction” on the group’s free speech would likely face “constitutional challenges.”

“Essentially, from the research I found, the city will face constitutional challenges if it tries to limit the spread of Prattville Pride,” Odom said.

Both Alabama and federal law protect against prior restrictions on free speech, Odom said, with speech regulations having to be “narrowly tailored to a particular government interest.”

“In my opinion, based on what I have seen so far, I would not advise the council to engage in any prior restriction on free speech that has not already occurred,” Odom said.

Council members took no action at the time and it appeared that Prattville Pride would be allowed to remain in the parade, to the chagrin of Clean Up Alabama and like-minded residents who had called on the city to remove the float.

Clean Up Alabama released a statement Thursday condemning any threats of violence against the float or parade.

“We have been vocal about our concerns that Prattville Pride is allowed to sexualize the Prattville Christmas Parade, but threats and violence are unacceptable,” the group said in a news release. “Clean Up Alabama does not tolerate threats or violence. We continue to pray for those with whom we disagree and hope that the authorities will handle this situation appropriately.”

Mayor Bill Gillespie called for the float to be removed Thursday morning after receiving an email from Prattville Pride Vice President Caryl Lawson asking that the float be escorted by two police officers because of concerns he had the group could be targeted.

“This morning, the city was made aware by Prattville Pride that there are serious safety concerns regarding Prattville Pride’s participation in the Christmas parade,” Gillespie said in a statement. “To date, there has been only conjecture and speculation regarding possible safety concerns that Prattville Pride’s participation in the parade may cause. The city will not put the rights of parade participants above the safety of its citizens.”

Lawson’s email to Gillespie, Prattville Police Chief Mark Thompson and Deputy Police Chief Jeff Hassell contained no reference to specific threats to the parade, and Prattville Pride did not voluntarily withdraw for safety reasons.