Asheville: ACLU, local groups sponsor forum on dissent

[Sonicmedusa]

In response to several recent controversial incidents involving free speech, protests and law enforcement, the local chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union, along with some 20 other groups, are sponsoring a forum on “How to Exercise Your Right to Dissent.”

“We’ve had a rash of incidents lately, from the Sheriff’s deputy arresting the Kuhns for the flag they had upside down, to the police’s involvement with Carolina Animal Action at Malaprop’s, at the Bank of America protest and the Jonas Phillips banner case,” says local ACLU Board Member Alex Cury, who is organizing the event. “We see a need for people to be educated about the most important rights they have and how they can exercise them.”

The forum will be held 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 27, in room 221 of UNCA’s Highsmith Student Union. Panelists will include UNCA professors Mark Gibney and Dwight Mullen, ACLU attorney Frank Goldsmith and student activist and regional Students for a Democratic Society chair Katie Ketz. Gibney, a human rights attorney, will moderate the panel.

In addition the Western North Carolina and UNCA chapters of the ACLU, a number of other groups have joined in sponsoring the event, including Carolina Animal Action, Veterans for Peace, Women in Black, Students for a Democratic Society, Mountain Voices Alliance, the Buncombe Green Party, WPVM-103.5 and others.
http://www.mountainx.com/news/2007/091907buzz3