ACLU sues over arrests in animal-rights demonstration

By The Associated Press

06.02.02

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SHREVEPORT, La. — Animal-rights protesters, including one who painted tiger stripes on her nearly naked body, say Shreveport police violated their right to free speech by arresting them last year.

They have taken the city to federal court, asking for damages and a public apology.

A city judge ruled in March that "Tiger Lady" Cynthia Lieberman, whose body was covered by a thong, pasties and paint, was also covered by the First Amendment.

Police Chief Jim Roberts said he didn't know about the suit. "We leave all that up to the attorneys to look at and evaluate," he said.

City Attorney Ramon Lafitte was out of town and couldn't be reached for comment.

Lieberman, of Denver, was among three would-be protesters who were arrested as they got ready to demonstrate outside the Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey Circus on May 29, 2001. A fourth was threatened with arrest, according to the suit filed May 29 by the American Civil Liberties Union.

All four are members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — and their unpopular viewpoint was part of the reason they were arrested, says Joe Cook, executive director of the Louisiana ACLU.

Lieberman was arrested as she stooped to get into the cage where she planned to crouch to protest alleged abuse of circus animals. Police said she failed to keep a placard in front of her chest, and booked her with obstructing public passage and performing an obscene act.

Circus representatives were allowed to stay in the area, handing out leaflets and free circus tickets to officers, the lawsuit notes. The tickets were later turned in as evidence.

City Judge LaLeisha Walker Alford ruled in March that since Lieberman, Kristie Phelps of Virginia and Susan Gross of Shreveport were arrested before the protest began, they never obstructed the sidewalk.

She also struck down the obscenity charge against Lieberman, saying the protest would not have been obscene and was protected by the right to free speech.

Cook said he believed PETA was targeted for arrests "because of the viewpoint they were expressing and the manner in which they were expressing it."

The suit asks for punitive damages, a public apology from the city, destruction of criminal arrest records stemming from the case and remedial training for Shreveport police on constitutional protections.

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