Hearing canceled in KKK case against Cape city government

A Ku Klux Klan group and Cape Girardeau officials are awaiting a federal judge's ruling about whether the city's ban on leafleting unoccupied cars would deny the white supremacy group's free speech rights during a planned visit later this month.

The hearing scheduled for Monday in which lawyers for the Traditionalist American Knights of the KKK and the city was canceled after both sides agreed last week to accept a judge's ruling based solely on the briefs that have been filed with the court. Federal Judge John A. Ross is expected to issue a ruling before the Klan's trip Sept. 28.

Al Spradling III, a former Cape Girardeau mayor and longtime lawyer, is representing the city in the case and was emphatic that the ordinance is aimed at keeping litter off the streets.

"They have a right to their presence and they have a right of assembly to espouse their opinions of hate and white-power bigotry," Spradling said. "But this ordinance applies to everyone, not just them."

In his brief, Spradling writes that the Klan's motion is correct in pointing out that the 8th Circuit has struck down similar ordinances in Arkansas. But Spradling suggests that a more well reasoned approach was another court's disagreement with that ruling. Another case upheld such a restriction on leafleting because that ordinance was content- and viewpoint-neutral, Spradling said.

The Traditionalist American Knights' Imperial Wizard, Frank Ancona of Park Hills, Mo., said that he believes the ordinance obviously violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment.

"Cape Girardeau has an outdated ordinance and its unconstitutional," Ancona said. "We do this all over and this is the first time we've come across a community that has this kind of ordinance."

Ancona and the Klan's legal representation, the American Civil Liberties Union, said they believe their lawsuit will be successful, and even Spradling said he was not optimistic that the city would prevail.

Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri, said that the KKK's message is unpopular and one he strongly disagrees with. But protecting the Constitution is more important than whether people agree with the messenger.

"The First Amendment is to protect against the majority," he said. "It's not the message that's worth defending. It's the right to speak any message that's worth defending."

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

555 Independence, Cape Girardeau, MO