Charge dismissed against blind protester at Capitol
Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press 9:38 a.m. EDT August 22, 2016
joe harcz and attorney.jpg
Joe Harcz (left) and his attorney Brian Kamar, during an earlier hearing at
Lansing district court.(Photo: Paul Egan/Detroit Free Press)
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.
The issue arose after a blind witness for Harca 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. He would
not elaborate on his reasons when asked by the Free Press.
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.
? Related:
Harcz, who said Sunday he has rejected offers to plead to a lesser charge,
maintains that blocking him from the event was a violation of his constitutional
rights. Organizers have confirmed that he was a member of one of the committees
that planned the ADA celebration.
Harcz said Monday after the dismissal he is still unhappy about what he said
was a violation of his rights and others involved in the protest and he plans
to sue the Michigan State Police and other parties.
"I think they should be sued back to the Dark Ages," Harcz said outside court.
Mark Kamar, a Lansing attorney representing Harcz, said: "For Joe's sake, I'm
just glad it's over."
The 25-year-old ADA is landmark federal legislation that prohibits
discrimination based on disability, imposes accessibility requirements on
public facilities
and requires covered employers to reasonably accommodate employees with
disabilities.
Lansing District Judge Hugh Clarke, Jr.
bound Harcz over for trial
last October after hearing testimony from one police witness and viewing two
videos shot by police body cameras.
Clarke said Harcz failed to comply with a lawful command from police not to
cross a barricade and that is sufficient probable cause to support a charge
of resisting or obstructing police.
Clarke said it was reasonable for police to establish a buffer between ADA
celebrants and protesters, and Harcz was never told to leave the Capitol
grounds,
only to stay in a certain area of the Capitol a distance from the ADA
celebration.
Source:
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/michigan/2016/08/22/trial-begins-blind-protester-arrested-capitol/89092602/
