Judge Rules Police Violated Protester's Rights During Cheney Visit

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Police violated a protester's rights when they arrested him for leaving a designated protest area during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney to Evansville, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

The restrictions police placed on protesters' movements went beyond what was needed for security even in the post-9/11 climate, U.S. District Judge Larry J. McKinney wrote.

McKinney noted that protesters were restricted "to an area 500 feet away from the only entrance used by attendees, and on the opposite end of the building from where Vice President Cheney would enter the facility and from where the majority of people attending the event would park."

Such conditions, he wrote, "burdened speech substantially more than was necessary to further the defendants' goals of safety."

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