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Artistic Groups Challenge Miami-Dade's "Cuba Ordinance"
Miami Light Project et. al. v.
Miami-Dade County (Case # 00-1281)
April 5, 2000
Several Miami artistic and cultural groups today filed a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court challenging the County's controversial "Cuba Ordinance." The lawsuit was filed by ACLU Cooperating Attorneys Bruce Rogow and Beverly Pohl on behalf of the Miami Light Project, GableStage, the Cuban Cultural Group, and concert promoters Debra Ohanian and Hugo Cancio.
The suit challenges the constitutionality of the County's "Cuba Restrictions," and the "Cuba Affidavit," which is required of all groups wishing to apply for County cultural grants or seeking to use County facilities.
The lawsuit alleges that the "Cuba Affidavit" improperly infringes on First Amendment rights and violates the federal government's exclusive authority in foreign affairs, foreign policy, and foreign commerce, in violation of federal law. "In effect, Miami-Dade County has adopted its own foreign policy toward Cuba in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution of the United States," said ACLU Cooperating Attorney Bruce Rogow.
"The effect of the ordinance has been to impose censorship of cultural and artistic expression on the people of Miami-Dade County," said John de Leon, President of ACLU's Greater Miami Chapter.
"For eleven years Miami Light Project has brought to our community the most innovative and provocative contemporary performance from around the world," said Beth Boone, Artistic and Executive Director of Miami Light Project. "Our board of directors and staff have made the decision to take a leadership position on this issue by standing up for the most fundamental of our rights ? the First Amendment right to freedom of speech and artistic expression."
Known informally as the "Cuba Ordinance," Administrative Order 3-12 (which includes resolutions R-202-96, R-206-96 and R-1321-99) bans County vendors from doing business with any organization that deals with Cuba, prohibits contractors from visiting the island, and authorizes Commissioners the unbridled discretion to grant waivers to the policy.
The Cuba ordinance has had a chilling effect on cultural and artistic expression in Miami. The Latin Grammy awards ceremony, which was to have been held in Miami in September 1999, was moved instead to Los Angeles after Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas refused to make the County-owned American Airlines Arena available for the event because Cuban artists may have been included. The local group bidding to hold the Pan Am Games in 2007 in Miami-Dade also pulled out last year (as did organizers of the once-annual MIDEM Latin American-Caribbean music conference after being informed that the County would not support the events because Cuban nationals would participate). The July 1999 Junior Pan American Games track and field meet, which was to be held at Florida International University, was moved to Tampa after Miami-Dade refused to offer financial support for the event.
The Cuba ordinance is particularly restrictive to the lawsuit's lead plaintiff Miami Light Project, a cultural organization that presents live performances by innovative music, theater and dance artists and receives about 8.5 percent of its $600,000 annual budget from the County. The group has been unable to book a dance collaboration between Puerto Rican and Cuban dance companies and a popular Cuban choral group because the County ordinance prohibits it from doing so. Faced with the likelihood of losing critical funding, Director Beth Boone revised the Miami Light Project's performance schedule for the 2000-01 season so as not to include Cuban performers.
Debra Ohanian, the South Beach music promoter who booked last fall's concert in Miami by the popular Cuban band Los Van Van, has been unable to proceed with plans to host an island music festival featuring Cuban nationals at the American Airlines Arena later this year. In order to use the County-owned facility, Ohanian must first swear not to "subcontract with" or "purchase supplies from" any person or entity that does business with Cuba, even though federal law permits her to do so.
Background
This case is the latest episode in the ACLU's battle against censorship of the arts involving issues which led to the adoption of the County's Cuba ordinance. Last year, Miami officials tried to prevent Miami promoter Debra Ohanian from sponsoring a performance of Cuban salsa band Los Van Van. The ACLU intervened on Ohanian's behalf, and the performance was ultimately held at the Miami Arena.
In 1997, former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Bruce Kaplan removed Peggi McKinley from her position on the Miami-Dade County Film, Print and Broadcast Advisory Board for criticizing the economic ramifications of the Cuba ordinance. The ACLU filed suit on behalf of McKinley seeking her reinstatement and alleging that her termination by the County in retaliation for her public comments violated her First Amendment free speech rights. The McKinley case is now on appeal.
In 1996, elements of the exile community attempted to prevent Cuban singer Rosita Fornes from performing in Miami because she had not publicly denounced Fidel Castro. The Centro Vasco Restaurant where she was to perform was bombed in retaliation for her scheduled performance. And in 1991, the City of Miami refused to renew the lease of the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture because the museum had sponsored an exhibit by Cuban artists. As a result of a lawsuit ? also brought by brought by ACLU cooperating attorney Bruce Rogow on behalf of the museum ? the federal district court held the City's actions unconstitutional, citing the City's actions as a clear violation of the First Amendment (Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture, Inc. v. City of Miami).
