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Protester Released on First Amendment Grounds

By Alabama Public Radio

Montgomery, AL – A woman who was arrested for holding an anti-war poster at Auburn University Montgomery last week during President Bush's visit was released later that day based on her First Amendment freedoms. A Montgomery magistrate ruled the protester was expressing her right to free speech. A police report stated the woman was arrested because she refused to protest inside a predetermined area where other protesters demonstrated. She also did not provide her name. But Chief Magistrate Patrick Murphy ruled that her sign was a form of free speech protected by the First Amendment. Murphy also said the woman did not have to identify herself because there was no probable cause she committed a crime.

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