DURHAM -- The city attorney will draft a "holistic" policy on expressing opinions in public places after two citizens said their free speech was infringed outside the Durham Performing Arts Center.
In the meantime, citizens have designated "approved flier/solicitation zones" to freely speak their minds and pass out literature totheater-goers.
Lee Mortimer and Richard Wark spoke to the City Council on Thursday. Wark said they wanted confirmation that "we do have the right in a peaceful way ... [to] express our opinions on public property."
They and two other people handed out leaflets before a Nov. 3 Leonard Cohen concert, objecting to a Cohen performance in Israel because of that concert sponsor's connections to "illegal Israeli settlement building on confiscated Palestinian land," according to an e-mail statement sent to council members Wednesday.
The arts center management, according to the statement, told them to move to the Mangum Street sidewalk because their leaflets were upsetting some patrons.
"We were quite taken aback," Mortimer said. "We just don't think that's something the Constitution recognizes as a reason for restricting free speech."
After hearing from Mortimer and Wark in November, City Attorney Patrick Baker said, he "tried to boil down what is a long history of constitutional jurisprudence." His opinion is that the only constitutional restriction on free expression at DPAC is that it must not impede access to the theater.
The issue has come up before but has always been handled on a case-by-case basis, he said.
"I suggest we take a look at all the areas where First Amendment, free-speech issues may come into play" and deliver "a holistic approach" for the council's consideration, Baker said. He could have a draft ready next month, he said.
"What we are looking for is being allowed to do whatever we are doing unless it is ... preventing access," Wark said.
