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Charges dropped against Kentucky gay rights activists

Charges dropped against Kentucky gay rights activists
Chris Hartman, director of the Louisville Fairness Campaign, spoke during a rally in support of the U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Defense of Marriage Act June 26, 2013, at Jefferson Suare in Louisville, Ky., Wednesday, June 26, 2013, in Louisville, Ky.
Chris Hartman, director of the Louisville Fairness Campaign, spoke during a rally in support of the U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Defense of Marriage Act June 26, 2013, at Jefferson Suare in Louisville, Ky., Wednesday, June 26, 2013, in Louisville, Ky. AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Prosecutors dismissed charges Thursday against three gay rights activists arrested this summer for standing silently in matching orange T-shirts in protest of an event at the Kentucky State Fair. Chris Hartman, director of the Fairness Campaign in Louisville, was arrested in August while demonstrating at the Kentucky Farm Bureau’s annual Country Ham Breakfast, which draws many of the state’s political heavyweights. The Fairness Campaign and the American Civil Liberties Union have protested the event for years in opposition to the insurance company’s political arm, which opposes same-sex marriage and lobbies for other conservative causes. Hartman said he felt vindicated that the criminal charges again him were dismissed. A dozen supporters with him chanted in the courthouse hallway, “Justice is served.” The activists’ attorneys say they plan to file a lawsuit saying the arrest was unconstitutional. Around two dozen activists bought tickets to the breakfast for $28 each, Hartman said. They sat at tables in the back of the event. As the program began, they stood in matching T-shirts that read “no hate in our state,” Hartman said. They planned it to make a statement without risking arrest, he said. Kentucky State Police Trooper Paul Blanton said at the time they were arrested for refusing to sit down once the event started. Troopers charged Hartman with disorderly conduct and failure to disperse. Two other activists, Carla Wallace and Sonja De Vries, were also arrested and charged with failure to disperse. Police wrote in their report that the activists “attended a private event” and “stood in protest and did not obey instructions to disperse.” All three spent around four hours in jail.
“They should never have been arrested in the first place,” said Ted Shouse, an attorney representing Wallace. “I’m glad the county realized that and dropped this case.” The Jefferson County Attorney’s Office asked a judge Thursday to dismiss the charges against all three. Assistant County Attorney J.P. Ward told the judge his office has reviewed video footage of the event, interviewed witnesses and consulted law enforcement. The office concluded it would be unlikely to secure a conviction against them. “Further, the commonwealth being cognizant that is has not only a duty to prosecute criminal acts, but also to act ethically and fairly with regard to anyone charged with such an act,” Ward wrote in his motion to dismiss the case. Kentucky State Police Sgt. Michael Webb, a spokesman for the agency, said Thursday he was not familiar enough with the circumstances to comment. The Farm Bureau did not immediately respond to phone messages and emails requests Thursday. The company distributes a booklet to legislators. The 2015 policy manual, published in December 2014, includes a number of positions the Fairness Campaign and ACLU describe as discriminatory. Among them is a statement that marriage should be recognized only between a man and a woman and its position that state agencies should not provide benefits to domestic partners.
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