By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Board
The Jackson County Legislature looks foolish in its attempt to quell protests at the courthouse.
This is the danger of crafting a policy to shut up one person (former legislative aide Bob WitbolsFeugen) that the lawmakers see as a thorn in their side.
And it's doubly dangerous to impose a new crackdown on something so absurd in the wake of the Kirkwood, Mo., City Hall shootings.
The Legislature should take courthouse security seriously. That does not mean banning or unduly restricting protest signs from legislative meetings.
Sure, it's irksome for elected officials to find out not everyone is enamored of the job they're doing.
And, yes, protestors ought to use common sense in how they display their signs during legislative meetings. One example: Try to be careful not to block the view of someone sitting behind them.
But it's simply ludicrous to require -- as the Legislature is on the verge of doing -- that protestors let a sheriff’s deputy know ahead of time that a sign will make an appearance at the meeting.
Yael T. Abouhalkah is a member of The Kansas City Star Editorial Board.
I seem to recall a story in the Star on this, but don't remember the exact specifics. Plus, as a long time subscriber to the paper, I have to pay for archived articles, which is a rant for another day. However, I want to know more.
What's this guys beef? What does the sign say? Sometimes the dead tree version doesn't give the juicy details--make an exception for the web version.
I went to one forum last year on the stadium improvements and let me tell you some of those people who show up to speak--wacko. Real wacko.