Canton Coverup Part 326: Judge Beverly Cannone Bans Protests For Any Cause On Public Land In Dedham That She Has No Jurisdiction Over
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After a hearing this morning Judge Beverly Cannone issued a blatantly unconstitutional 200 foot buffer zone this afternoon, preventing peaceful protesters from holding signs, using megaphones, and wearing clothing ” relating to the case pending against the defendant or relating to any trial participant.” Here is the order in its entirety:
Ordered that no individual may demonstrate in any manner, including carrying signs or placards, within 200 feet of the Courthouse Complex during trial unless otherwise Ordered by this Court. This complex includes the Norfolk Superior Courthouse building and the parking area behind the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds building. Individuals are also prohibited from using audio enhancing devices while protesting. It is further ORDERED that no individuals will be permitted to wear or exhibit any buttons, photographs, clothing, or insignia, relating to the case pending against the defendant or relating to any trial participant, in the Courthouse during the trial. Law enforcement officers who are testifying or are members of the audience are also prohibited from wearing their department issued uniforms or any police emblems in the Courthouse. (Cannone, RAJ) dated 04/04/2024.
This is blatantly unconstitutional, and is the exact opposite of “narrowly tailored.” It doesn’t just ban Karen Read protests within 200 feet of the courthouse, it bans ANY DEMONSTRATION! Why 200 feet? Why not 200 miles? Under what authority does she have to do this? That boundary extends past the light at the intersection of High and Ames Street.
Beverly Cannone does not own the town of Dedham and has no control over that area. There is an election coming up in Dedham, but if you want to hold a sign for your preferred candidate for office at that intersection you will be arrested. After all, no individual may “demonstrate in any manner, including carrying signs or placards,” within that 200 foot radius. It says nothing about the Karen Read case. You just can’t demonstrate at all. Because a resident of Norwell said so.
I have no problem with her banning signage and FKR gear inside the courthouse, but the public sidewalk outside of the courthouse is not her domain to regulate.
Her reasoning was even more insane.
She suddenly has a problem with protesters shouting at “witnesses” like Jennifer McCabe, which is protected speech. For what it’s worth, the “witnesses” and their entourage shout right back, as is their right.
She claims that protesters are “displaying materials which may or may not be introduced into evidence at trial.” In other words, she doesn’t like the “hos long to die in cold shirts,” and apparently may not allow it into evidence at trial.
She seems to think that you’re not allowed to publicly display your thoughts of Karen Read’s guilt or innocence anywhere near the courthouse.
She claims “witness intimidation” has been prevalent, even though no one has been convicted of any sort of witness intimidation, and no one ever will be.
She claims that the 12 jurors chosen from a pool of hundred will be so weak minded that they will somehow be influenced by a bunch of people wearing “Free Karen Read” clothing.
The most absurd part is how she’s claiming she’s doing this for Karen Read’s own good, when she knows damn well that the protesters all support Karen Read.
I’ve seen some people complain (none of whom donated) that the $6K we raised to hire Attorney Marc Randazza to fight this motion was a waste. I disagree. You miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take. You cannot take an order like this lying down. If Marc didn’t file that motion then the ACLU would not have filed their amicus brief. The ACLU is clearly an institution that Beverly Cannone respects, because she spoke highly of them during yesterday’s hearing.
Karen Read’s attorneys were in a tough spot. They welcome the protests, but there is a determined push by the Commonwealth and State Police to tie Read to the protesters. They got a warrant to take her phone as part of their fishing expedition to prove that Karen directed Turtleboy to commit “witness intimidation” (peaceful protesting and activism). The Commonwealth would love to have the defense on record saying they want the protesters to be able to line the courthouse steps. They wisely didn’t take the bait. Unfortunately this backfired because Cannone refused to listen to the citizen’s lawyer Marc Randazza, and thus no one argued against the motion in court.
I don’t consider this a total loss though. First of all, it was nice to be back inside the courtroom for a hearing. It’s unfortunate that I cannot announce I’m coming to these things (for obvious reasons), but I enjoy watching Lunchbox Lally being told for the 5 millionth time to go and speak at the podium so that I can show my disgust for him while he spits out word salad at the podium.
He seemed really disappointed to turn around and see this.
Lunchbox still hasn’t gotten the mitochondrial DNA testing from the infamous “hair” found on Karen Read’s car. The hair was already tested in August and determined to be non-human hair. The Commonwealth didn’t like this conclusion and insisted on mitochondrial DNA testing, which would destroy the hair sample. Yet they still haven’t gotten it done 7 months later, so now Judge Cannone said she would “entertain a motion” to ban DNA testing evidence on the hair at trial.
Lally just made up lies about our intentions as well:
“There are parties that want to try to see if they can influence the jury inappropriately in this case.”
None of us want to influence the jury. We don’t need to, because Karen Read’s lawyers will do that by presenting the facts of the case. We just want to voice our disgust with the fact that the people who actually killed John O’Keefe seem to be getting away with it due to the sham prosecution of Karen Read.
Cannone realizes that national media outlets like CNN and Fox News will be covering this trial, and that they haven’t cover it before. She doesn’t want millions of viewers to see protesters outside the courthouse because then people will start to get the impression that there is some sort of corruption going on in Norfolk County, Massachusetts.
There were a million different ways Cannone could’ve narrowly tailored this if she’s worried about the safety of jurors. She could’ve had them come in the backdoor. She could’ve asked them during the voir dire if they would be able to remain open-minded and neutral after seeing Free Karen Read signs. She could’ve ordered the police to arrest anyone who threatens or intimidates a juror.
But instead of doing that she issued a blanket proclamation banning ANY DEMONSTRATION on land she has no domain over.
What offends me is that this entire order is based off of a false premise that FKR protesters are dangerous. Not once has there been ANY act of violence or vandalism at our hundreds of protests. The July 22 rolling rally was peaceful and lawful, yet they’ve created the false narrative that we were a violent mob threatening witnesses in their homes. They weaponized the witness intimidation statute in order to circumvent the First Amendment, and now they’re going 10 steps further with this order.
There are two possible solutions now:
- Hire an attorney to appeal this to the SJC.
- Find a way around it.
This definitely deserves to be challenged because it’s blatantly unconstitutional, but I understand if people don’t want to spend money on something if a victory can’t be guaranteed. However, within minutes of this order being issued people were already figuring out ways around it, because when the government censors the people it only makes them more determined to speak out. Some have proposed that we hold protests at the major intersections leading to the courthouse.
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I’m not sure what the plan is right now, all I know is that if their goal is to silence us then their plan is going to completely backfire. Stay tuned for more announcements.
