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Animal groups lasso a win in court
Judge bans deputies from pat-down searches at rodeo
By Linda Thomson
Deseret News staff writer
FARMINGTON — Only hours before the last night of an Olympic-related rodeo, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting Davis County sheriff's deputies from conducting pat-down searches of all animal rights protesters before they enter an area set aside for demonstrations.
U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart forbade the ankle-to-neck frisking but said law enforcement officers could use walk-through or wand-type metal detectors. Deputies can physically frisk someone if they have a warrant, probable cause or an "individualized suspicion" that the person presents some kind of danger.
Stewart's decision was prompted by a motion filed by attorney Brian Barnard, who represents PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and Salt Lake County resident Sean Diener.
Barnard contends deputies conducted pat-down searches of all protesters Saturday night and to a lesser degree on Sunday night, while the attorney for Davis County Robert Wallace said the department modified its approach Sunday and did not conduct such intrusive searches.
Barnard also represents the Utah Animal Rights Coalition and another individual, David Berg. The two men and the two organizations filed a separate civil suit in federal court Monday morning alleging that their constitutional rights were violated by the searches at the rodeo. The protesters named Davis County, Davis County Sheriff Bud Cox, the city of Farmington and Farmington Police Chief Wayne Hansen.
However, since Hansen said his people only handled traffic control, Farmington may be dropped from the suit.
But Barnard said he plans to continue legal action against Davis County.
"We don't live in a police state," he said. "The police have to have some legal basis to stop you and to frisk you, and exercising your First Amendment rights doesn't make you a criminal and doesn't justify police searching you."
The protesters in their civil suit asked the court to declare that the actions of the police and governments were unconstitutional. The lawsuit also requests unspecified monetary damages.
The suit contends that over the weekend protesters were given a document that stated they "may" be inspected before entering an area designated for protesting the Olympic Command Performance Rodeo, which is part of the 2002 Cultural Olympiad.
The lawsuit claims that making the ability to protest contingent upon being searched infringes on the protesters' First Amendment right to free speech.
The suit also alleges that the searches violate the protesters' constitutional right to peacefully assemble and their right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.
Barnard said the protest area is more than a quarter-mile from the rodeo arena and protesters could not have posed a threat to anyone at the rodeo. "It's not like going into a courthouse or an airport. They were out on the public street, standing on the sidewalk, and in order to do that, they were required to be searched," Barnard said.
Sheriff Cox said he is looking into the situation.
Cox said people attending the rodeo were checked with metal detectors and their backpacks and purses were opened and inspected. "Administratively, although this is not an Olympic venue, it comes under the same rules as a venue," he said, noting for example that no one other than law officers could carry a weapon inside.
Cox said that as far as he knew, the protesters were not treated any differently than people attending the rodeo, but the department will investigate the protesters' claims to see what happened.
Protesters applied for and got the necessary permit from Farmington to conduct a "free expression" demonstration from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. for the three-day rodeo, the lawsuit said. "Nothing in that permit as granted by city authorities authorizing searching of participants in the plaintiff's demonstrations," the suit said.
One uniformed Davis County sheriff's deputy "made it clear that if a protester refused to be frisked, that the protester would not be allowed to proceed to the protest area and would not be allowed to participate in the demonstration," the suit said.
Protesters Diener and Berg did not consent to be searched but wanted to be part of the demonstration, so police did a full body pat down of both men on Feb. 10, according to the suit. Barnard said that does not constitute a willing and voluntary consent.
E-MAIL: lindat@desnews.com
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February 12, 2002
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