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Judge sides with free speech - even the uncivilized kind
By: FREDA R. SAVANA
The Intelligencer
A Chalfont activist has the right to speak out, loudly, at a public meeting, District Judge Robert Gaffney decided in finding Ben Romano not guilty of disorderly conduct.
A longtime Chalfont activist has the right to challenge his local government officials, even if he raises his voice and points his finger at them, said a New Britain district judge.
District Judge Robert Gaffney found Bennett Romano, 70, not guilty of disorderly conduct Wednesday for his outspoken behavior during a March public meeting.
"I believe the First Amendment trumps a lot of municipal ordinances and some state law," Gaffney said, following a 90-minute hearing where Romano fought the charge.
The judge disagreed with Bucks County Assistant District Attorney A.J. Garabedian's argument that Romano "crossed the line" when he refused to leave the Chalfont open house and resisted a police officer's efforts to remove him from borough hall.
"He had a legitimate purpose," said Gaffney, who also told Romano "to change his conduct+and be civilized" in the future. "You can disagree without being disagreeable."
Romano, who regularly attends council meetings and is a vocal critic of many of the board's actions, had no comment following the hearing, as his Churchville attorney, J. Todd Savarese, ushered him out of the court. Garabedian also declined to comment.
Chalfont Manager Melissa Shafer, one of those Romano chastised at the meeting, said, "We were here because we felt he was disturbing the meeting. We respect the judge's decision and we hope it won't happen again."
The citation stemmed from an evening session of a borough open house, designed to inform residents of various projects in Chalfont. Romano came in and, according to the testimony of several witnesses, started berating borough council members Marilyn Jacobson and John Engel for misspending taxpayer's money and misrepresenting the funding source of some of Chalfont's projects.
"He was agitated, his voice escalated and he was pointing and yelling," testified the borough's mayor, Marilyn Becker. "He was moving toward other people and getting into their space. The focus became Mr. Romano and the people he was yelling at."
As tension mounted and Romano refused Shafer's repeated attempts to talk with him about his concerns at another time, Becker called the police, according to testimony.
As mayor, Becker is the civilian head of the borough's police department.
In a video made at the meeting, and shown to Gaffney, Romano can be heard speaking in a loud voice. As a police officer arrived, Romano can be heard asking if he's being arrested - and why. Others in the room can be heard laughing.
Chalfont police Officer Jon Cousin, who arrested Romano, testified that he met with "verbal resistance" when he confronted Romano and told him to leave. "He said he was a resident and a citizen and he wasn't leaving," the officer told the court.
As Cousin escorted him from the building, eventually handcuffing him outside, he said Romano called the mayor an "ass" and flicked the lights off and on. When he was given a copy of the citation, he crumpled it and threw it in the trash.
Acknowledging "it's patently clear there's no love lost between Romano, the mayor and other council members," Savarese said that cannot be a reason to "muzzle" the sometimes harsh critic.
Former Councilman Mitch Meyerson testified that while he was a member of the board it was well known some officials "hated his guts," declining to send Romano flowers when his wife, a longtime borough volunteer, died.
Savarese asked every witness if Romano ever physically harmed anyone. Each said no.
"There's no evidence (Romano) created a hazardous or physically offensive condition," Savarese told the judge.
He called Romano's tough questioning of officials, "the heart and soul of the democratic process.
"There are many Ben Romano's throughout this United States of America; each of whom possess the constitutional right to express his or her political views without fear of governmental retaliation or duress."
Freda R. Savana can be reached at 215-345-3061 or fsavana@phillyBurbs.com.
May 27, 2010 05:04 AM
