ACLU questions arrests at Bush visit

Stephen Curran

Wednesday, May 19, 2004 | 10:42 a.m.

Tuesday's arrest of two Las Vegas men for disorderly conduct after they refused to move from outside the auditorium where first lady Laura Bush was addressing a rally has sparked the interest of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Local activists Tony Dane and David Laney were arrested as campus police, working with the Secret Service, tried to clear an area outside Artemis Ham Hall at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Hilarie Grey, a UNLV spokeswoman said.

Laney, 37, was taken to the Clark County Detention Center on an outstanding traffic warrant. Dane, 43, was cited for obstruction and released Tuesday night, Grey said.

The two men were trying to collect signatures for an anti-tax petition, Grey said.

The university allows petitions to be circulated on campus, but the two men refused to move from a restricted area, she added.

An attorney for the ACLU of Nevada said the arrests of Laney and Dane raised "very serious concerns" about the legality of similar "free speech zones" on college campuses.

Such areas -- often used at high-profile speeches and rallies -- restrict demonstrations to a specific area on the grounds, said Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the ACLU.

Gary Peck, executive director of the Nevada ACLU, said such restrictions fly in the face of a university's mission.

"From our perspective, all public space is a free speech zone," he said.