Pubdate: Wed, 22 Aug 2001
Source: Times-Picayune, The (LA)
Copyright: 2001 The Times-Picayune
Contact:  http://www.timespicayune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/848
Author: Gwen Filosa

RAVES PLEA DEAL BRINGS ACTION

The Founding Fathers may not have had pacifiers and stuffed bunny rabbits 
in mind when they wrote the First Amendment, but displaying them is a form 
of self-expression worthy of constitutional protection, according to a 
lawsuit filed Tuesday.

In defense of electronic-music fans who throng the State Palace Theater for 
all-night dance parties, the American Civil Liberties Union in New Orleans 
sued U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft over a recent plea bargain in 
which rave promoters agreed to ban party accessories such as pacifiers, 
dust masks and the luminescent plastic wands called glow sticks.

Three men who attend raves at the Palace joined the ACLU in the lawsuit, 
which asks a judge to lift the ban and declare that the goodies are not 
drug paraphernalia under the law. Steven McClure, of Tampa, Fla.; Clayton 
Smith, of Denham Springs; and Michael Behan, of New Orleans, said they want 
their rights to bear glow sticks restored.

"We're not able to express ourselves," said Smith, 23, a dedicated fan of 
electronic music since 1998. "They're taking away silly things that meant a 
lot to us."

Promoters have prohibited pacifiers, Vicks Vapo Rub and the ubiquitous glow 
stick for months now at events at the Canal Street theater, as one way to 
appease federal prosecutors who say the items are nothing more than drug 
paraphernalia that intensify the high of the illegal party drug ecstasy. 
The ACLU, however, says the measure is nothing less than a violation of 
ravers' constitutional right to free speech.

The ban was the result of the U.S. attorney's case against rave promoters 
Donnie Estopinal and brothers Robert and Brian Brunet, which derailed in 
March when the men fought back in court instead of agreeing to plea 
bargains. In June, however, Robert Brunet, who manages the Palace as head 
of Barbecue Inc., accepted a deal that resolved the case and freed the 
three men from criminal charges. They are not plaintiffs in the ACLU's lawsuit.

Barbecue Inc. was sentenced to pay a $100,000 fine and agreed to ban 
accessories such as glow sticks. The deal had nothing to do with Estopinal, 
a national figure in the electronic music world who continues to promote 
parties in New Orleans.

The 19-page lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in New Orleans.

Prosecutors could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but they consider 
raves as notoriously drug-drenched events and maintain the ban has made the 
Palace a safer place and cut down on the number of drug overdoses in the city.

The ACLU calls the idea "unproven speculation that a systematic assault on 
electronic music and culture will somehow reduce drug use."

"Constitutional rights cannot be sacrificed on such flimsy grounds," the 
lawsuit says.

At an Aug. 4 rave, more than 30 people were silenced by the glow stick ban, 
including at least 10 who had their property seized by security, which 
rummaged through the backpacks, purses and pockets of customers at the 
door, the lawsuit says.

The ban means Smith can't wear a pacifier around his neck as an expression 
of his love for the rave culture and McClure, who performs with a group 
called Rabbit in the Moon, can't wear his costume that is affixed with 
hundreds of glow necklaces, the suit says.

Behan, 24, a former insurance agent who has gone to Palace raves since 
1997, said security guards seized a stuffed rabbit he carried in his 
backpack -- with only the floppy ears exposed -- at a recent rave. His 
signature, battery-operated rabbit is part of his performance artist 
character "Mr. Bunny."

"Because it shook," he said, "it must be drug paraphernalia."

Security guards also told Behan to get rid of the hand-held massager he 
brings to give back rubs to fellow dancers. They let him stash it in his 
car instead of confiscating it, he said. Massage tables, popular at raves 
where all-night dancing is a must, were on the government's banned list.

Like pacifiers, which can be used to stop the jaw-clenching produced by 
ecstasy, prosecutors said massage tables were further proof of drug use 
because ecstasy is commonly known to elicit a desire for touching.

Illicit drug use is a part of many music scenes, but the government has 
never invaded a movement like it has the rave culture, the lawsuit says. 
"Weed and LSD are synonymous with Jazzfest. So is being drunk," Behan said. 
"And (prosecutors) don't seem to have a problem with that."
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