The American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont is calling for the dismissal of criminal charges brought against a Montpelier resident who was arrested last year after he refused to stop talking at a city council meeting.
“Criminally prosecuting a resident for extended public comments undermines the central purpose of public meetings and offends democratic values,” ACLU-VT staff attorney Harrison Stark said in a statement.
Stephen Whitaker is known for attending Montpelier City Council meetings and expressing critical views of city officials and city matters, often in a combative manner.
At the June 8, 2022 council meeting, he raised concerns about street sweeping, river pollution and public records requests, among other topics, according to the ACLU’s friend-of-the-court brief filed in Washington Superior Court’s criminal division on Wednesday.
Whitaker was arrested in the council chambers after repeated warnings to stop talking. He was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and unlawful trespassing, and an additional charge of violating previous conditions of release.
Bill Fraser, Montpelier’s city manager, said Whitaker spoke longer than the two minutes allotted to residents during the public forum portion of the meeting, and refused to stop or to leave the city council meeting.
“He was clearly breaking the established rules of the city council meeting,” said Fraser, who was present for the council meeting. “The city has adopted rules of conduct and consequences and it (the city) followed those to the letter.”
Whitaker’s attorney, Avi Springer, filed a motion Wednesday asking the court to dismiss the charges. Springer did not respond to requests for comment, and Whitaker declined to be interviewed about the case Thursday.
Stark, of the ACLU, said the state has a “high burden” to show that Whitaker’s use of free speech infringed on other attendees’ rights.
“The conditions under which the state can hold someone criminally liable for their speech in a setting like this, those circumstances are extremely limited, and they’re just not presented here,” Stark said.
“Going over time just simply isn’t the kind of fundamental infringement on others’ First Amendment rights that the Vermont Supreme Court has made clear is necessary in order for someone to be held criminally liable,” he said.
Whitaker’s arrest isn’t the only recent instance of Vermonters being barred from public spaces, according to the ACLU-Vermont’s press release. In a 2019 case, James Ploof was forbidden from visiting City Hall Park in Burlington. The ACLU said it reached a settlement agreement with the city in that case.
Stark said he anticipates it will be “some time” before the court rules on the motion to dismiss Whitaker’s charges.
