DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Student protests, May-December 1971 | 1971-09-29 Des Moines Register Article: ""Challenge to Conviction In Iowa City""

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Student protests, May-December 1971

1971-09-29 Des Moines Register Article: ""Challenge to Conviction In Iowa City""

DMR
9/29/71

Challenge to Conviction In Iowa City
By Larry Eckholt
(Register Staff Writer)

IOWA CITY, IA. - The constitutionality of the conviction of a local news reporter who was arrested while covering student unrest in Iowa City last May was questioned in Johnson County District Court Tuesday.
   The attorney for Thomas C. Walsh - who was a reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen last May - Tuesday withdrew a plea of innocent to a charge of disobeying a police officer and filed a dermurrer on Walsh's behalf, listing several challenges to Walsh's arrest and subsequent conviction in Iowa City Police Court.
   Arrested May 6
   Walsh was arrested May 6 while standing with a group of newsmen who were reporting disturbances in downtown Iowa City. Originally, Walsh was charged with disorderly conduct, but that charge was dismissed and a new one - disobeying a police officer - was filed shortly before his trial May 17.
  Walsh, 20, is serving as editor of the Daily Iowan, the University of Iowa student newspaper.
   Testimony at Walsh's trial disclosed that newsmen were standing at a downtown intersection, observing police while they brought persons arrested to a bus being used to transport persons to local jails.
   Testimony showed that police ordered the group of reporters to "move along" and that reporters interpreted that order to mean to stay out of the way of police. A few minutes after the order was issued, a police officer arrested Walsh and a photographer.
   Charges against the photographer were dismissed before the case came to trial.
   Police Judge Joseph Thornton found Walsh guilty, and fined him $100. He noted that police had ordered streets to be cleared following disturbances and ruled that the police orders also applied to newsmen.
   "In Peril"
   Newsmen who elect to stay on the streets gathering the news do so "in peril of being arrested," Thornton said after Walsh's hearing.
   The Iowa City Press-Citizen has appealed that ruling, citing the issue of "the people's right to know."
   Atty. William M. Tucker said Tuesday that the latest district court action, in effect, starts a new trial for Walsh and raises the basic constitutional questions which were at issue in the police court decision.
   The demurrer filed on Walsh's behalf raises these points:
   That the section of the Iowa City Municipal Code under which Walsh was charged for disobeying a policeman "relates to traffic control and was not and is not designed in any way to constitute a basis for charge against pedestrians..."
   That the same section "is void on its face value for vagueness in that it subjects persons to an unacertainable standard of conduct because it would require men of common intelligence to guess at its meaning and allows use the sole determination as to its applicability to depend upon the judgment of an enforcement officer."
   That the same section "as applied to pedestrians and to (Walsh) in this case is unconstitutional in that it violates the constitutional right of free assembly and association."
   That the same action of the city - first charging Walsh with disorderly conduct, dismissing that charge and following with another for disobeying a police officer - "constitutes double jeopardy."
   That Walsh, at the time of his arrest, "was a news reporter under assignment" and enforcement of the charge against him "is also unconstitutional in that it violates (Walsh's) right of free speech."
   Walsh was one of three reporters arrested during last May's incidents. Charges against one of the reporters were dismissed and the other was released from custody several hours later without being charged.

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DMR 9/29/71 Challenge to Conviction In Iowa City By Larry Eckholt (Register Staff Writer) IOWA CITY, IA. - The constitutionality of the conviction of a local news reporter who was arrested while covering student unrest in Iowa City last May was questioned in Johnson County District Court Tuesday. The attorney for Thomas C. Walsh - who was a reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen last May - Tuesday withdrew a plea of innocent to a charge of disobeying a police officer and filed a dermurrer on Walsh's behalf, listing several challenges to Walsh's arrest and subsequent conviction in Iowa City Police Court. Arrested May 6 Walsh was arrested May 6 while standing with a group of newsmen who were reporting disturbances in downtown Iowa City. Originally, Walsh was charged with disorderly conduct, but that charge was dismissed and a new one - disobeying a police officer - was filed shortly before his trial May 17. Walsh, 20, is serving as editor of the Daily Iowan, the University of Iowa student newspaper. Testimony at Walsh's trial disclosed that newsmen were standing at a downtown intersection, observing police while they brought persons arrested to a bus being used to transport persons to local jails. Testimony showed that police ordered the group of reporters to "move along" and that reporters interpreted that order to mean to stay out of the way of police. A few minutes after the order was issued, a police officer arrested Walsh and a photographer. Charges against the photographer were dismissed before the case came to trial. Police Judge Joseph Thornton found Walsh guilty, and fined him $100. He noted that police had ordered streets to be cleared following disturbances and ruled that the police orders also applied to newsmen. "In Peril" Newsmen who elect to stay on the streets gathering the news do so "in peril of being arrested," Thornton said after Walsh's hearing. The Iowa City Press-Citizen has appealed that ruling, citing the issue of "the people's right to know." Atty. William M. Tucker said Tuesday that the latest district court action, in effect, starts a new trial for Walsh and raises the basic constitutional questions which were at issue in the police court decision. The demurrer filed on Walsh's behalf raises these points: That the section of the Iowa City Municipal Code under which Walsh was charged for disobeying a policeman "relates to traffic control and was not and is not designed in any way to constitute a basis for charge against pedestrians..." That the same section "is void on its face value for vagueness in that it subjects persons to an unacertainable standard of conduct because it would require men of common intelligence to guess at its meaning and allows use the sole determination as to its applicability to depend upon the judgment of an enforcement officer." That the same section "as applied to pedestrians and to (Walsh) in this case is unconstitutional in that it violates the constitutional right of free assembly and association." That the same action of the city - first charging Walsh with disorderly conduct, dismissing that charge and following with another for disobeying a police officer - "constitutes double jeopardy." That Walsh, at the time of his arrest, "was a news reporter under assignment" and enforcement of the charge against him "is also unconstitutional in that it violates (Walsh's) right of free speech." Walsh was one of three reporters arrested during last May's incidents. Charges against one of the reporters were dismissed and the other was released from custody several hours later without being charged.