Robinson Donovan attorneys Nancy Frankel Pelletier and David Lawless received an important ruling in favor of the Town of Egremont.
United States District Court Judge Michael A. Ponsor rejected an effort by second-home owners to force the Town of Egremont to allow non-voters to speak at the annual Town Meeting scheduled for May 1, 2007. The plaintiffs’ case, which is still pending, asserts that second-home owners who are not registered to vote in Egremont have a constitutionally protected right to speak at Town Meeting because they pay property taxes to the Town. Specifically, plaintiffs claim that they have “the same right to speak on matters of public interest — such as how their tax dollars are spent – as that enjoyed by voters in Egremont.” In denying plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, Judge Ponsor found that the plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their claims.
Attorneys Pelletier and Lawless argued, and Judge Ponsor agreed, that the Town Meeting is a duly constituted legislative body which has the authority to control its internal proceedings, such as decisions as to who may speak and when, and that plaintiffs have no more right to address that body while in session than they do to be heard by the United States Congress. The Court also accepted the argument of Robinson Donovan’s attorneys that property ownership does not entitle any individual greater rights than those afforded to any other citizen under the Constitution.
The New England town meeting is perhaps the oldest form of democratic government still practiced in the world. The institution pre-dates the founding of the Republic and town meetings in Massachusetts and throughout New England were instrumental in bringing about the American Revolution. This ruling affirms, at least on a preliminary basis, that the town meeting form of government is alive and well and that it is entitled to the respect afforded other governmental institutions.
This is the second important victory for Attorney Pelletier in a First Amendment case during the past year. In Matos v. Town of Clinton, Attorney Pelletier successfully resisted a First Amendment challenge brought by a high school student who alleged that her rights were violated when a teacher asked to see an assignment that the student had used as an opportunity to write false and salacious comments about school staff. The student was subsequently suspended for ten days based on this inappropriate behavior. In that case, Attorney Pelletier also successfully opposed a motion for a preliminarily injunction. That decision was appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, a federal appeals court one rung below the Supreme Court of the United States. Attorney Pelletier was successful before the First Circuit and ultimately won the case on a motion for summary judgment.
Contact Info:
Nancy Frankel Pelletier, Esq. (413) 732-2301
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David S. Lawless, Esq. (413) 732-2301
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