Lawyers For DNC Protesters Battle Gag

Lawyers critical of the decision to prosecute protesters arrested on the first night of the Democratic National Convention say Denver's city attorneys are trying to shut them up.

They say the city has twice asked a Denver County judge to issue a gag order to keep defense lawyers quiet about the validity of the Aug. 25 arrests.

Judge Karen Bowers has denied the requests.

"They want to stop me from criticizing them and telling the public about this," said Robert Corry, an attorney representing several DNC defendants. "I thought it was remarkable they would try this in a First Amendment case."

The judge's order says city prosecutors accused the American Civil Liberties Union and lawyers for the People's Law Project of trying to poison the jury pool by publicly criticizing the cases.

"Despite apparent efforts by third parties to influence these cases, the court believes that the juries have been honest in the selection process and able to listen fairly to the evidence presented," the order says.

The order also says that the ACLU is not representing any of the clients and that she cannot gag that entity. The record says there was no evidence that any individual lawyer associated with a DNC case is responsible for the release of information.

City Attorney David Fine said no motion for a gag order was made.

"We did not move for a gag order and, in fact, deliberately decided not to," he said. "I cannot understand why the order is written that way."

Fine did say attorneys who have entered appearances on behalf of their clients have an ethical obligation not to talk about the case.

The Denver Post