Ugly, stark and raw, the reactionary rabid forces of St. Augustine City government have for a quarter century railed and retaliated against street artists and musicians, arresting tourism workers and giving them criminal records.
It's one of the worst anti-labor policies enacted since the 1349 British Statute of Laborers, which made it a crime for ask for higher wages, or to move.
But as Saint Augustine himself said, "An unjust law is no law at all.
The day of reckoning is near: on August 21, 2015, United States District Court Judge Brian J. Davis will hear oral arguments on Bruce Bates et al. v. City of St. Augustine. The City had an opportunity to reform its behavior, with attorney Thomas Cushman speaking with city officials and attorneys. Only Mayor Nancy Shaver was concerned about compliance, saying "our streets are not lively."
A federal court order is likely before St. Augustine's 450th celebration commences on September 4, 2015.
Let freedom ring!
Let the federal court be yet another stunning rebuke to the ancien regime, the St. Augustine Oligarcy of Cosmic Blunderers, exemplified by ex-Mayors CLAUDE LEONARD WEEKS, JR. and JOSEPH LESTER BOLES, JR. were the architects of these illegal, First Amendment violating restrictions on artist and musician rights. WEEKS and BOLES spat on the Constitution even as they manipulated themselves into the no-bid lease of 81 St. George Street, and placed their porcine friends on City boards that rubberstamped their projects. It was wicked WEEKS who destroyed a 211-year old building on September 25, 2014, a date that will live in infamy (he was fined only $3600 for working without permits, something he admitted that he habitually does).
What do you reckon?
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