Pubdate: Wed, 04 Sep 2002 Source: Boston Globe (MA) Page: B2 Copyright: 2002 Globe Newspaper Company Contact: http://www.boston.com/globe/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52 Author: Jenn Abelson Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) MARIJUANA REFORM GROUP FILES SUIT AGAINST OFFICIALS Members Allege Violation Of Their Free Speech Rights There's no place like Stone Park to hold a rally for legalizing marijuana, organizers say, but Ashland officials aren't buying it. "I had a rally in Framingham Common, but it's just not the same as Stone Park," said James Pillsbury, coordinator of the MetroWest chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "It's a great name." State and local advocates of decriminalizing marijuana are accusing Ashland officials - for the second time in a decade - of violating free speech rights by prior restraint. The Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition and the MetroWest NORML chapter contend that the town created a $1 million liability insurance requirement only after the group submitted an application to use the park on Memorial Day, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court late last month. The policy, the advocates say, restricted their right to free speech and other activities in a public forum. "They want to keep me out of town," said Pillsbury, a plaintiff in the suit against Ashland and a Libertarian candidate for state representative. "It's absurd. It just blows everybody away that they would be doing this again." Ashland Town Manager Dexter Blois and Dale Morris, an administrative assistant named in the suit, declined to comment. Pillsbury's problems with the town date back nearly a decade. The Framingham resident held two rallies at Stone Park in 1993, and although no arrests were made, reports from a town official that he witnessed marijuana smoking at the events prompted efforts to block Pillsbury when he sought a permit for another event later that year. Town officials informed him that a new policy restricted the use of public facilities by nonresidents to one time per year. Pillsbury then filed suit against Ashland, and a judge ruled in favor of the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition. The town was ordered to reimburse the group $30,000 in legal fees after the town lost its court appeal in 1995. "The leaders of Ashland just don't seem to understand they can't discriminate against people for their political beliefs," said Bill Downing, president of the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition. "How many tens of thousands of dollars will Ashland have to pay until the leaders understand what the Constitution stands for?" According to the lawsuit, filed on Aug. 23, town officials informed Pillsbury days after he submitted an application to use Stone Park that he would need $1 million in liability insurance to hold an event at the park, even though that wasn't indicated on the application form. When pressed on the regulation, Morris told Pillsbury that it was Ashland's policy to require $1 million in insurance from everyone who used Stone Park for an event, the complaint said. But according to past permit applications obtained by Pillsbury's attorney, and previous interviews town officials gave to the Boston Globe, there is no record of such a policy. Blois told the Globe the town typically requires about $100,000 to $300,000 in general liability, and $50,000 in medical coverage for groups that use public facilities. Officials from the Recreation Department said the town is developing a policy to address insurance issues. Dennis A. Mannone Jr., the former director of the Ashland Recreation Department, declined to comment on liability requirements, but said he gave one-time requests for the use of public facilities to the town attorney and town manager to handle. "I didn't really handle it," said Mannone, who is named in the suit. After Pillsbury failed to secure liability coverage, the town returned his application and denied the permit. Barry Bresnick, a former selectman, said he witnessed marijuana smoking at the 1993 event, but does not believe there is any particular effort to stifle Pillsbury or restrict free speech. A transcript from a May 1993 selectmen's meeting, however, shows that the members discussed the coalition event and talked about ways to prevent another pro-marijuana activity from happening. According to court documents, one selectman said, "Can we have a policy, develop a policy where we could keep individuals or groups [from] extolling illegal activities? ... We don't want inappropriate things going on next to a playground." The selectmen suggested limiting use by nonresidents - a regulation the town enforced weeks later when the coalition applied for another permit. That move ultimately cost Ashland $30,000. For decades, the coalition has held rallies throughout the state - including in Worcester, Fall River, and Salem - and encountered only one major flap with Boston in 1998. City officials refused to issue a permit without certain restrictions in an effort to control the annual Freedom Rally - which had attracted 100,000 people and led to 150 arrests the previous year. A Suffolk Superior Court judge refused to block the rally, but allowed the city to impose some regulations. Downing called that ruling a victory, and described Ashland's latest efforts to curb the coalition's activities as extremely upsetting. "They just never seem to learn," he said. This story ran on of the Boston Globe on 9/4/2002. - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl