Cincinnati Arts Association, boycott group settle lawsuits
By The Associated Press
02.12.03
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CINCINNATI — Lawsuits between the Cincinnati Arts Association and the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati over boycott issues have been settled.
The agreement announced yesterday dismisses the arts association's lawsuit in the 1st Ohio District Court of Appeals in Cincinnati and the coalition's lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.
Under the settlement, the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati — one of the groups calling for an economic boycott of the city over racial justice issues — will be allowed free use of Memorial Hall to hold a series of four public forums next year.
The arts association also agreed to hold more education and arts-related programs and performances at schools and other sites in poorer communities. The coalition did not agree to stop asking entertainers to avoid performing in Cincinnati, and no financial payments will be made to either side.
Lucian Bernard, the attorney who represented the coalition, said both sides were looking for ways to solve the legal disputes.
Steve Loftin, president and executive director of the arts association, said continuing the lawsuits didn't serve the best interests of either group.
The arts association, which oversees the Aronoff Center for the Arts, Music Hall and Memorial Hall, sued the coalition last March for $86,000 dollars in lost ticket sales. The arts group charged that the coalition persuaded performers to honor the boycott and interfered with legal contracts between the association and the performers.
Comedian Bill Cosby, musician Wynton Marsalis and singer Smokey Robinson are among the performers who canceled shows.
The coalition had sued the arts association, saying that the group tried to intimidate it into silence with a threat of legal action.
A Hamilton County Common Pleas judge in August dismissed the arts association's lawsuit, upholding the coalition's arguments that the First Amendment's free-speech guarantee allows boycott supporters to urge performers not to perform in Cincinnati. The association then appealed that decision to the 1st Ohio District Court of Appeals.
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State judge throws out arts agency's suit against Cincinnati boycotters
Court upholds arguments by Coalition for a Just Cincinnati that the First Amendment allows members to contact artists, urge them not to perform in city.
08.27.02
