[nfbmi-talk] Fw: charges dismissed against blind protester

[Marcus Simmons]

Isn't it interesting that they wait until the 11gh hour to decide.


-----Original Message----- 
From: Christine Boone via nfbmi-talk
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2016 3:40 PM
To: NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List
Cc: Christine Boone
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] Fw: charges dismissed against blind protester

Very good news indeed!  Kudo’s to Joe along with our thanks for standing up 
at the right time!  We have all benefited from what Joe did here.

Christine

> On Aug 23, 2016, at 8:10 AM, David Robinson via nfbmi-talk 
> <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Good news for all blind persons. Joe fought and won as we all should.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: joe harcz Comcast
> To: terry Eagle
> Cc: Mark Eagle ; Eleanor Canter ; David Robinson NFB MI ; Mary Ann 
> Robinson NFB MI ; Joe Sontag NFB MI ; Laura Hall ADAPT MDRC ; terri 
> Sullivan 71 ; Mark Whalen ; Phil White ; Clark Goodrich MIADAPT ; Michael 
> Steinberg ACLU ; jfroyal2000 . ; Larry Wanger ; Fran Fulton ; Bill Earl MI 
> ADAPT ; Leigh Campbell-Earl ; Jill Gerrie MI ARC ; Norm DeLisle MDRC ; 
> Theresa Squires MDRC ; Joseph Pietron MDRC ; Mark Johnson ; Kelly Buckland 
> NCIL ; Marsha Katz ; Mark Finnegan ; Denise Heberle ; Sidhu,Mehgan ; Mark 
> A. Riccobono NFB Pres. ; Mark Kamar, Esq. ; Samuel Bagenstos ; Georgia 
> Kitchen FANFB
> Sent: Monday, August 22, 2016 12:59 PM
> Subject: charges dismissed against blind protester
>
>
> Charge dismissed against blind protester at Michigan Capitol
>
> Paul Egan,
>
> Detroit Free Press 10:38 a.m. EDT August 22, 2016
>
> 636073878677336936-joe-harcz-and-attorney.jpgBuy Photo
>
>
>
> Joe Harcz (left) and his attorney Brian Kamar, during an earlier hearing 
> at Lansing district court.(Photo: Paul Egan/Detroit Free Press)Buy Photo
>
>
>
> MASON -- Minutes before a trial was scheduled to begin, Ingham County 
> prosecutors today dismissed a charge against a blind activist who was 
> arrested while
>
> demonstrating outside the state Capitol in Lansing last year.
>
>
>
> Paul Joseph (Joe) Harcz, 63, of Mt. Morris was charged with resisting and 
> obstructing police, a two-year felony.
>
>
>
> Harcz was arrested on Sept. 17 when he tried to cross a police barricade 
> to enter a 25th anniversary celebration of the federal Americans With 
> Disabilities
>
> Act, taking place on the Capitol lawn, after police identified him as a 
> protester they believed was intent on disrupting the event.
>
>
>
> "In the interests of justice, the people are moving to have this case 
> dismissed," assistant Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Stevens told Ingham 
> Circuit Court
>
> Judge William Collette on Monday morning, minutes before the bench trial 
> was scheduled to begin.
>
>
>
> Stevens didn't elaborate, but Interim Ingham County Prosecutor Gretchen 
> Whitmer, who was appointed to the post after Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings 
> was charged
>
> with prostitution-related charges, said she made the call after reviewing 
> the file, viewing a videotape of the incident, and discussing the case 
> with Stevens.
>
>
>
> "While we all have an interest in ensuring protests at the Capitol remain 
> safe, we must also observe an individual's fundamental right to protest," 
> Whitmer
>
> said in an e-mail to the Free Press.
>
>
>
> Stevens asked for the dismissal after a blind witness for Harcz asked 
> prosecutors to move the case to Lansing, because of difficulties accessing 
> the Mason
>
> courthouse through public transit and ADA issues at the historic 
> courthouse.
>
>
>
> Stevens told Collette the courtroom is ADA-compliant and the courthouse 
> has Braille markings in the elevator, but still requested the dismissal.
>
>
>
> Harcz was
>
> protesting the fact organizers chose the Capitol
>
> as the site for the event, when the historic building lacked Braille 
> signage and other features to make it fully ADA-compliant. He was also 
> protesting the
>
> fact that some of the organizers of the event, as permitted by federal 
> law, paid sub-minimum wages to some disabled workers.
>
>
>
> Source:
>
> http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2016/08/22/trial-begins-blind-protester-arrested-capitol/89078270/
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