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Federal Judge Orders City of Miami to Refund Security Fees at 1999 Los Van Van Concert
November 25, 2003
MIAMI -- Saying the required payment of city-imposed security fees had a ''chilling effect'' on free speech, a federal judge today ordered the city of Miami to refund more than $36,000 in concert security costs charged to a controversial band reviled by some in the Cuban exile community.
In March 2000, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida filed a lawsuit on behalf of concert promoter Debbie Ohanian challenging the constitutionality of security fees imposed by the city of Miami during the 1999 concert by the Cuban band Los Van Van that attracted thousands of anti-Castro protestors. The ACLU sought to recover the high security fees, claiming the city had an obligation to provide security to maintain the public order during the protests.
In her 24-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Joan Lenard sided with the ACLU, arguing the "city should be responsible for those decisions that violated protected [First Amendment] activity and is led to observe that the First Amendment is alive and well ? especially in the city of Miami."
The lawsuit addressed whether the Miami Police Department was lawfully entitled to charge Ohanian to provide outside security during the concert, which was held on October 9, 1999 at the Miami Arena. Although Ohanian agreed with the city that police presence outside the arena was necessary because of the threat of protests by anti-Castro Cuban exiles, Ohanian objected to having to cover the security costs herself. She paid the fees "under protest" so the concert could go on without incident.
"The city doesn't have a right to impose a fee on freedom of speech and increase the price tag for any speech that attracts demonstrators," said Howard Simon, ACLU of Florida Executive Director. Simon.
The ACLU argued that the city-imposed security fee is unconstitutional and that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects music as a form of expression and prohibits the government from arbitrarily charging fees to maintain public order. The ACLU cited a 1992 case, Forsyth County, Ga. v. Nationalist Movement, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that: "Speech cannot be financially burdened, any more than it can be punished or banned, simply because it might offend a hostile mob."
The case is Ohanian v. City of Miami, No. 00-1114. The ACLU cooperating attorneys handling the case are: Beverly Pohl and Bruce Rogow of Fort Lauderdale.
