North Miami Beach Police Officer Ericson Harrell was cleared of all charges stemming from his arrest on November 22, 2013 in Plantation, Florida.  According to a Sun-Sentinel article posted a few hours ago, Officer Harrell was arrested and charged with “obstructing traffic” and wearing “a Guy Fawkes mask seen in the movie “V for Vendetta” and holding a flagpole with an inverted U.S. flag,” while protesting Obamacare.  The Sentinel reported that the prosecutor assigned to the case, Sarahnell Murphy wrote a memo explaining that he “wasn’t in the road or blocking traffic.”  The article states:

“Murphy wrote she could not “in good faith” charge Harrell. In addition, the anti-mask law was “vague, ambiguous and overbroad,” and Harrell would argue a constitutional rights violation, she wrote.

Murphy wrote that she researched if there were “more appropriate charges” that could be filed “based on his conduct.” She considered a trespass charge, but he “was in a public forum and had a lawful right to be there… and protesting in a non-threatening manner.” She also considered the charge of resisting an officer because Harrell wasn’t complying with officers requests, except he “is not legally required to disclose his identity during this encounter.”

As I noted in a column I wrote for The Daily Pamphlet, Officer Harrell told me he was concerned about a letter he received from NMB Chief of Police J. Scott Dennis, Jr., ordering him to submit to a psychological evaluation stemming from his arrest.  He is now hoping that this will be unnecessary now that all the charges have been dropped.

The Sun-Sentinel quoted Broward County Public Defender Howard Finkelstein, “who was not involved in the case,” as saying, “It was the right thing to do.  Free speech must not be chilled because either the message or manner of delivery makes us uncomfortable. That is the point. That is what spurs change and it is exactly what the First Amendment was designed to allow.”

In my opinion, this is a huge victory for free speech, and I believe the prosecutor made the right call.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”