Anti-War Group to Sue DC Government

CNSNews.com

An anti-war group will file suit Monday afternoon claiming that the District of Columbia is infringing on its First Amendment rights by imposing $10,000 in fines for "improperly" posting fliers promoting a Sept. 15 march.

The ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition last week received notices of violation from the D.C. Department of Public Works totaling $10,000 in fines for posters announcing a march in D.C. The notices require the group to remove the posters within 72 hours.

The signs promote an anti-war march set for Sept. 15, the date that Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, is scheduled to provide a progress report to President George W. Bush and Congress.

ANSWER was launched by liberal lawyer Ramsey Clark shortly after 9/11, and it largely focuses on protesting against the Bush administration's foreign policy. Many of ANSWER's leaders are politically left-wing and include, for instance, people from the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a Marxist-Leninist group.

"Our posters are put up in conformity with D.C. municipal regulations, which permit and regulate the postering," Sarah Sloan, national staff organizer for the ANSWER Coalition, told Cybercast News Service. "We've done this for many years; many other groups do it. We've never been targeted like this before.

"We really consider it to be a political campaign carried out because this is a demonstration coming at a time when Bush wants to justify the continuation of the war," she added........