Rutherford Institute weighs in on county schools’ hate imagery ban

Anti-racist activists have spent more than a year advocating for a ban of hate symbols in Albemarle county schools, and after months of the school board deferring an official vote, the superintendent took matters into his own hands last week to prohibit such imagery in the dress code. Now, a constitutional attorney says he better […]

False imprisonment: County settles lawsuit against five cops

Benjamin Burruss sat in his car in the Comfort Inn parking lot surrounded by Albemarle police. His employer had asked police to check on him when he didn’t show up for work. Burruss told the officers he did not intend to harm himself or anyone else, and the 12-gauge shotgun in his backseat was for […]

Too broad: Judge dismisses August 11 charge against CVS shopper

A judge today said the city’s lengthy list of prohibited items on the Downtown Mall over the August 12 anniversary weekend swept “far too broadly,” and he dismissed a charge against a disabled veterans activist for possession of razor blades that were purchased August 11 at CVS. John Miska, 64, bought two cases of Arizona […]

In brief: The militia won’t come back, a free speech controversy and more

And stay out! Six militia groups and their leaders named in a lawsuit aimed at preventing white supremacist and paramilitary organizations from showing their mugs around Charlottesville again have settled, agreeing they won’t engage in coordinated armed activity in any of the city’s future rallies or protests. The latest round of defendants to bow out […]

Kessler subpoenaed C-VILLE reporter

Two business days before Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler was scheduled to stand trial on a felony perjury charge March 20 in Albemarle Circuit Court, C-VILLE Weekly reporter Samantha Baars was in Charlottesville General District Court, where a deputy handed her a subpoena to appear as a witness for Kessler. Aside from First Amendment […]

Militia madness: City files suit against August 12 participants

  Exactly two months after the summer’s Unite the Right white nationalist rally that left three dead and many injured, a legal group has filed an unprecedented complaint on behalf of Charlottesville, local businesses and neighborhood associations that could prohibit “unlawful paramilitary activity” in the city. Lawyers with the University of Georgetown Law School’s Institute […]

Decision at high noon

The Rutherford Institute and the ACLU of Virginia have given the city of Charlottesville until 12pm today to respond to their letter demanding city leaders allow Jason Kessler to hold his August 12 Unite the Right rally in Emancipation Park. When city manager Maurice Jones announced August 7 that he approved Kessler’s event permit, but […]

Campaign trail: Spy center backs off Trump sign ban

Mike Sienda already felt aggrieved when his boss at the National Ground Intelligence Center’s Rivanna Station told him in early September to not show up on grounds with his giant Trump-Pence signs on the side of his box truck. When he was told he couldn’t park on the federal property with a smaller Trump 2016: […]