Urban sprawl creeps into politics
Brian August 25th, 2005
As cities lose their downtown feeling and adopt more suburban characteristics, even local campaigning practices are undergoing change.
Today, civil rights groups filed a lawsuit in behalf of Charlottesville’s Rich Collins who was arrested for handing out campaign materials at a shopping center.
Collins lacked funds to advertise in newspapers or television. So he took his campaign for the Democratic nomination to the 57th House of Delegates seat to the streets, handing out leaflets to people at Shoppers World shopping center off U.S. 29, where Whole Foods is located.Shoppers World Manager Charles Lebo repeatedly asked Collins to leave. But Collins continued to hand out the leaflets. Eventually Lebo called police, and the 70-year-old Collins was arrested and charged with trespassing.
The lawsuit asks the court to declare that the Virginia Constitution protects the right of free speech, even at privately owned shopping centers.
The two groups were the Rutherford Institute and the American Civil Liberties Union.
