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Judge OKs restraining order

Jackson, Hale, seven expelled students must stay 50 feet from school property

By TOM COLLINS

H&R Staff Writer

DECATUR, Ill. (Dec. 24) -- A Macon County judge ruled Thursday that the Rev. Jesse Jackson, white supremacist Matt Hale and seven students implicated in a Sept. 17 fight must stay 50 feet away from Decatur School District property.

Circuit Judge James A. Hendrian approved a preliminary injunction that keeps Jackson, Hale, the students and their parents and select supporters of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition from entering school property without written consent from the school board, which sought the injunction.

"I think all too often, when we speak of constitutional rights and privileges, we forget there is a duty and responsibility to exercise those rights and privileges in a way that does not infringe upon the rights of others," Hendrian said.

Hendrian ruled that a preliminary injunction would not supersede anyone's First Amendment rights to free speech and peaceful assembly.

It would, however, enable the school district to meet its obligation to teach without disruption, Hendrian ruled.

"We're very pleased," said Kenneth Arndt, superintendent of the Decatur School District.

The preliminary injunction is temporary, however. Another hearing -- date to be determined -- is anticipated for the district to argue for a permanent injunction.

Hendrian limited Thursday's hearing to oral arguments, noting the defendants hadn't filed answers to the original complaint, only motions to dismiss it.

The hearing lasted less than a half-hour, with no lawyers present for Jackson and the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. Jackson also was absent from the hearing.

Keith Anderson, one of the defendants who now is barred from school property, said he was never served any papers telling him to be at the hearing.

Anderson declined to comment on Hendrian s ruling, and whether the injunction could jeopardize services provided to Decatur students through Homework Hangout, which Anderson founded.

Calls seeking comment from Jackson's spokeswoman, Stephanie Gadlin, and his Chicago attorney, Lewis Myers Jr., were not returned.

Jackson and his lawyers had tried to get this matter moved from Macon County Circuit Court to U.S. District Court.

They filed a federal removal action in Urbana, saying the issue involved constitutional rights and therefore belonged in federal court. U.S. District Judge Michael McCuskey denied that motion and sent the case back to Macon County.

Hale sat alone at the defense table in Hendrian's court, there on behalf of himself and the East Peoria-based World Church of the Creator, which he founded.

In arguing for the injunction, Everett Nicholas Jr., lawyer for the school district, emphasized that the district was not trying to infringe on anyone's free speech.

"We are asking for this buffer zone so that students and parents can come to school without fear of any harassment from any of the groups picketing," Nicholas said.

"This is not -- I repeat, not -- a restriction on their rights to express their opinions."

Hale called the district's complaint "frivolous" and objected to being lumped into the same category of protesters as Jackson.

Unlike Rainbow/PUSH supporters, Hale said, his group of protesters numbered no more than five and always remained away from school property. (Though Nicholas said Hale's group did once enter a district parking lot.)

"There is simply no comparison to the actions of Jesse Jackson and the actions of my church and I," he said.

Hendrian said preliminary injunctions are used to maintain the status quo, making the injunction an appropriate means of letting the district resume teaching.

Jackson and Hale must not only keep their distance, they must conduct themselves in a non-disruptive manner.

Protesters, for example, may not shout or chant if the clamor is heard within any school building and disrupts class.

Nicholas said Decatur police will enforce the terms of the preliminary injunction. The district, he said, would seek to have any violators held in contempt of court.

Nicholas said the school district plans to seek a permanent injunction against the defendants, but did not know when that matter would be taken to court.

"It's not the end of the battle by any stretch, it's not the end of the war," Hale said. "Everything that happened today can be reversed."

Hale said it's ironic that the district barred the World Church of the Creator, noting that members supported the board's decision to expel six of the students (a seventh withdrew).

"The school board basically bit the hand that fed them," Hale said.