a
monthly
alternative
community
newsletter
serving
Free Speech
in Venice
California
May 2006 10th Edition Archives For information or to submit material please Email us
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May 2006 10th Edition Archives For information or to submit material please Email us
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Photo
Courtesy of The Benefit Network
© 1993The
battle for Free Speech on Venice Beach has been waged, on and off, for
the last two decades at least. In the early 1990s, a lawsuit for
violation of First Amendment Rights was filed by the ACLU against the
City of Los Angeles, on behalf of Jerry Rubin and Alliance for
Survival. This and subsequent lawsuits successfully established
and protected First Amendment activities in what came to be known as
the “Free Speech Zone”.
The Benefit Network (TBN) was a plaintiff in that first lawsuit (Alliance for Survival et al vs Los Angeles City Council 1991) when our organization (a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation) was falsely denied and subsequently allowed to sell our public benefit products in what was to become the Free Speech Zone. Following that, in 1997, the Perry v. LAPD, US 9th Cir Appeals 96-55545 Opinion D.C. No. CV-95-03028-LEW gave First Amendment protection for street artists to sell cds, banners, t-shirts and pins on the Venice Beach boardwalk. From about 1995 to 2005, a span of ten years, the conditions in the Free Speech Zone deteriorated. Many ‘vendors’ appeared with false documents claiming affiliation to churches and other nonprofit entities; others claimed religious ideology by placing crosses and other religious symbols on pieces of cheap, mass produced jewelry (actions condoned by both LAPD and Deputy City Attorney, Gita Isagholian (now O’Neil). Commercial vending proliferated in the guise of First Amendment activities leading to ruthless competition for space and location. Nonprofits, like TBN, were squeezed out by this new breed of aggressive ‘vendors’ hustling a living in the Free Speech Zone and First Amendment activities gradually gave way to competitive, commercial vending, condoned by LAPD and the City. Many of the original Free Speech activities such as those operated by nonprofit organizations, churches and political activists were squeezed out in a hostile takeover by ruthless commercial vendors. The City’s response to the ensuing ‘space war’ was to install a permit requirement into LAMC 42.15. Following this, in 2005 the city introduced a lottery system to further control the situation. As a result of offensive enforcement procedures and blatant violations of First Amendment Rights, executed by LAPD officers, a lawsuit was filed in July, 2005 by Carol Sobel on behalf of Food Not Bombs, vegan activist Jingles and “Woody”, a sculptor. The lawsuit caused the City to suspend offending sections of LAMC 42.15 from mid-August, 2005 until Saturday, March 25, 2006. At which time, LAPD was called upon to enforce the latest version of LAMC 42.15, sponsored by District 11 Councilman, Bill Rosendahl, and passed unanimously by L.A. City Council in February, 2006. © Barbara Peck ARTIST ‘CUFFED IN
FREE SPEECH ZONE
 “How
many years can some people exist before they’re allowed to be
free, how many times must a man turn his head, pretending he just
doesn’t see?”
These
are the words sung by Bob Dylan during the 60’s. Remember the
60’s when all America was screaming for freedom? On March
11, 2006 around 11 am an artist is handcuffed and threatened to be
arrested and taken to jail if he doesn’t give up a ten foot
section of the Venice Beach Boardwalk to a commercial vendor who had
claimed that the occupied space was theirs through a draw of the
lottery system. A system that was created by the L.A. City
Attorney to remove the exact thing that plagues the Boardwalk: “Commercial Vending”.
What the lottery system has done is to give many vendors who
don’t belong in the Free Speech Zone a permit to be there because
they don’t ask what they sell. This is a permit to sell
goods and wares. There is no background check of who you are, where you
come from and what you are selling. It’s like saying,
‘”hey, as long as you have a lottery permit for $25 we
don’t care what you sell and we will protect you from the people
who are supposed to be allowed to express themselves, such as: artists,
entertainers, philosophical, ideological, Free Speech. The exact people
who are being threatened to be eliminated by the new ordinance that
came into effect on March 25, 2006.
Angels from Food Not Bombs
by Diane Butler
*********************************An old man, at least in his seventies, hair white, unfurls some soft matting, carefully laying it underneath a small over-hang on the multi-million dollar apartment building on Ocean Front Walk, between Rose Avenue and Dudley. I can see the pain in his bones as he slowly bends over. Then he lays one thin blanket on top, and just as painfully as he made his bed, he climbs in it. He pulls the cover over his head, hoping the police won't come and threaten him with a ticket or jail. I feel ashamed of this country I live in, that would leave an old man to sleep outside on the cold cement in the rain. Earlier that day three young women and men, heroes, came to feed the homeless, the hungry or just members of the community. Their names are Elayne, Josh and Carry. They placed a placard in front of their table saying “FOOD NOT BOMBS.” There wasn't an open so-called “designated space” on the Boardwalk, so they took a chance putting up their tables in front of the” OFF limits” pagoda. They came to feed men and women like the old man sleeping in the rain and to make their burdens a little lighter. They came to spread love and good will and a vision of peace on Earth. The police drove up and told them that they weren't allowed to even give food away on the Boardwalk. No vending food, no sharing food, no feeding your fellow human beings in need. Our heroes continued to serve people during the whole confrontation with the police. The police warned them that if they were still there when they came back in an hour or so, they would arrest them and take them to jail. We – the people that they were feeding – urged them to leave so they wouldn't be arrested. But our heroes, shaking and adrenalin pumping, at the same time calm and centered told us that they were a collective and they would decide together what actions would be taken. They told us, “We need to be here, this is where the people who need us are.” So we all got together and helped move them into a so-called “designated spot,” so at least they would not be breaking that rule. And they served, and they served, and they served, for around three or four more hours. They fed a lot of people, maybe even the white haired old man, giving a little hope out with their soup, salad, hearty bread, and hummus to die for, not to mention their herbal tea. Hope for the cold, forgotten, and hungry; hope for the old and mentally ill; hope for the addicted; hope for the passers-by that there is still a caring world. They brought tears to the eyes of all who witnessed their courage. Thank God the police didn't return until after they were finished serving. We live in an upside-down world when people who follow their hearts to serve humanity and spread a message of no more war are threatened with a jail sentence for their kindness, courage and honor. We from the community of Venice Beach want to thank you, Josh, Carry, and Elayne, from FOOD NOT BOMBS, for your loving hearts, bravery and grand convictions. You are our angels, and we know with young people like you there is hope for the future of the world. © Diane Butler Editorial comment by Anonymous It has been stated that the homeless are homeless because they will not work. This is easy to say if you have gainful employment, are comfortably retired from gainful employment, or anticipate becoming so in the foreseeable future. Not everybody is only one paycheck or less away from being on the street, but those who are not largely owe their escape to exploitation of those who are. This makes the problem doubly insoluble. If you believe that your safety and security must rest on the backs of those who were/are less fortunate, you will fail to see the need to address the issue with compassion that is not of the conservative flavor. Add to that the apparent reality that many judges agree with GW Bush that the US Constitution – including the Bill of Rights – is just a “gad dam piece of paper,” and the situation becomes nearly intractable. To remind all of us what the Federalists conceded to avoid the second revolution – or disempower it to the extent it became meaningless – is the Bill of Rights. (Amendments 1-10 of the Constitution)
JOIN 4-TIME GRAMMY AWARD WINNER EDWIN HAWKINS IN HIS APPEALTO RAISE FUNDS FOR AMERICA’S HOMELESS  Donate $10 online and download a copy of Edwin Hawkins’ “People In Need” (PIN) song http://www.benefitnetwork.org/PINCD.htm or send $15.00 check/money order for CD copy to : The Benefit Network/PIN Fund P O Box 1952 Venice CA 90294
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