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News :: Crime & Police : Elections & Legislation |
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Woman charged with disorderly conduct for handing out voter registration forms |
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04 Jul 2004
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July 2nd, 2004 12:18 pm
Woman Handcuffed For Handing Out Voter Registration Forms at F9/11
Woman cited for passing out voter registration forms
By Gina Zotti / June 29, 2004 / Daily Local News
EAST CALN -- She said she didn’t scream fire in a crowded theater.
All she did was hand out voter registration forms to movie patrons on their way out of the controversial film "Fahrenheit 9/11" on Saturday night.
Because of that, Lani Frank, of Easttown, doesn’t understand why -- or feel it was right -- that she was handcuffed and cited at the Regal Cinemas by police.
State police said Frank was in a place of business and causing a disturbance. They said she refused to leave and, for that, was cited for disorderly conduct. The citation, much like one a person would receive for a traffic violation, is a summary offense.
But, Frank contends that she was not making a disturbance and was on her way to her car before police motioned her back to ask her questions.
The police arrived after Frank had a discussion with a manager and security guard at the theater, she said.
Frank was inside handing out the forms to movie-goers on their way out of the sold-out 7:50 p.m. shows Saturday night.
"I was handing out the forms in the theater, but I was not making any mention of party affiliation or candidates," she said. "I never said anything negative to anyone."
Frank said there were many people who took the forms and many who thanked her for making them available.
She said that on her way into the theater, she saw another woman who was handing out the forms but had run out.
"Everybody’s been doing it all over the place," Frank said. "For them to have stopped me from doing it seemed improper and that’s why I didn’t leave."
From California to Florida, there were reports of other voter registration drives during the opening weekend of the Michael Moore film.
The movie, which gives Moore’s take on what happened to the country after the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and how the Bush administration used the event to push what he said was its agenda to go to war with Iraq, brought in $21.6 million in the box office this weekend, despite only playing at 848 theaters nationwide.
Still in the theater lobby, as the crowds were making their way outside, Frank said she was approached by the theater manager and told she wasn’t allowed to be doing what she was doing because she was on private property.
She said she told the man that she was not handing out any campaign literature, and the group, including Frank’s husband, walked out together -- she contends she was not escorted out but was leaving regardless.
She said she continued outside with her husband and chatted with friends on the way to the car when troopers called her over to speak.
They took her license and information and she said she asked why she was not allowed to hand out the forms if she was outside on public property.
"I might have been raising my voice, but I wasn’t screaming and yelling and waiving," she said.
On the contrary, she said she believed the "very nature" of the police being at the theater is what caused the disruption.
"Now they (bystanders) were paying attention, before they were just chit-chatting with friends," she said. "They started to get curious."
Frank was handcuffed and brought to the Embreeville barracks where she was given a citation for disorderly conduct with the intent to create a public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm.
"They didn’t need to take me into custody. I wasn’t inciting a riot," she said.
Frank said that she intends to fight the citation on principle that she should not have been required to leave at all because of her actions in handing out the forms.
"My assumption is that what I did was not legally wrong," she said. "If I’m found to be incorrect, I’ll pay the fine and say I’m sorry. But, I don’t believe I’m wrong ..I think they overreacted."
Acting alone in handing out the forms, not with Democratic committee, Frank said she was enjoying the night out with her husband and friends.
While she assumed those who attended the movie would be sympathetic to her political views and the way she would vote, Frank said her main objective was to encourage people to vote regardless of their party affiliation.
Frank said she is against the war in Iraq and felt the citizens of the country have been misled on the government’s reasons for going to war.
http://www.dailylocal.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12133831&BRD=1671&PAG=461&dept_id=17782&rfi=8
http://www.regalcinemas.com/index.html |
This work is in the public domain |
