More than 50 of District of Columbia democracy
advocates
and
supporters turned out for a "Rally for Democracy"
outside
of D.C.
Superior Court to show their support for
defendants
Anise Jenkins
and Karen Szulgit as they went to trial.
Jenkins, a member of the Stand Up for
Democracy in D.C.
Coalition, and
Szulgit, a member of the D.C. Statehood Green
Party,
were to be tried on the
charge of "Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct on
United
States Capitol
Grounds" stemming from their July 29, 1999,
arrest for
verbally protesting
Congress's rule over D.C., and specifically the
passage
in the U.S. House
of Representatives of the Barr Amendment, one of
several
anti-democratic
riders added to the D.C. budget for FY 2000.
Speakers who addressed the rally included
Wayne Turner
of ACT
UP/D.C., Reverend Walter Fauntroy, D.C.'s first
delegate
to
Congress, Mary Jane DeFrank of the American Civil
Liberties
Union,
attorney George LaRoche of the 20 D.C. Citizens
democracy
lawsuit,
Ms. Loree Murray of the Stand Up for Democracy in
D.C.
in D.C. Coalition, Timothy Cooper of Democracy
First,
D.C.'s Statehood
Delegation to Congress, representatives of the
D.C. Statehood
Green Party
and the Umoja Party, and other citizens and
activists.
If convicted by a jury, Jenkins and Szulgit
face a penalty
of $500 and/or
six months in jail. They will be
represented in
the trial by activist
attorneys, Mark Goldstone and Kenneth Page.
The Barr Amendment, the second amendment
introduced by
Congressman Bob Barr
(R-GA) in as many years, prohibits the
implementation
of Initiative 59, the
D.C. medical marijuana referendum sponsored by
local
AIDS activists and
patients rights advocates. Initiative 59
appeared
on the 1998 ballot and
passed overwhelmingly with 69% of the vote,
winning a
majority in all 8 of
the District's wards. ACT UP/D.C.'s Steve
Michael,
the original sponsor of
the Initiative, died May 25th, 1998, at the age
of 42,
due to AIDS-related
complications. After Michael's death, his
partner
Wayne Turner took over
the sponsorship of Initiative 59.
The U.S. Congress, which does not allow
District residents
voting
representation within its body, has complete and
total
control over the
budget and other legislative affairs of
D.C. Rally
attendees will call for
full voting rights for D.C. citizens and an end
to Congress's
continued
attacks on D.C. democracy.
After the rally, the crowd entered the
courthouse to observe
the trial.
(From the original media advisory. For more
info
contact: Steve Donkin
(202) 986-9438; Michèle Colburn
(202) 364-5080
