Convicted of Dancing in Honor of Thomas Jefferson

[The Straight Story]

Convicted of Dancing in Honor of Thomas Jefferson


Dancing is not considered a form of free speech, at least not when it’s being done at the Jefferson Memorial. After being arrested for gyrating along with some friends at the monument in April 2008, Mary Brook Oberwetter, 28, filed a lawsuit against the National Park Service. Oberwetter and 17 others had gathered at the memorial on the eve of Thomas Jefferson’s birthday and began dancing “for the most part by themselves, in place, each listening to his or her music on headphones” because such activity expressed “the individualist spirit for which Jefferson is known.” Park service police told them to stop. When Oberwetter refused, she was thrown in jail for demonstrating without a permit.

Oberwetter, the daughter of former ambassador to Saudi Arabia Jim Oberwetter, lost her civil case in federal court in Washington, DC. U.S. District Judge John Bates rejected her argument that the Constitution allowed her to freely express herself through dance, noting that the interior of the Jefferson Memorial is a nonpublic forum, and the park service bans all demonstrations at the site to keep the place quiet.

http://www.allgov.com/ViewNews/Convicted_of_Dancing_in_Honor_of_Thomas_Jefferson_100131

[BrklynLiberal]

1. She should appeal to the Supreme Court!!! ...oh wait...never mind.

[Confusious]

2. If her and her friends had requested 10 minutes alone

and it had been granted, then OK. Most people would be there for quiet reflection, and dancing would be a distraction and rude.

[Downtown Hound]

3. America, the land where you can...

Invade another country on a rationale based on lies
Torture their people
Steal their oil
Rape the environment under the guise of "free marketism"


But if you try and dance to honor your founding fathers, you get a criminal record. God bless the Yoo Ess Ayy.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. "If I can't dance, I don't want your revolution." Emma Goldman