COLUMBUS -The Ohio Supreme Court will decide whether the burning of a newspaper-stuffed effigy of the Cleveland Indians' grinning Chief Wahoo logo is protected free speech or a hazard to the public.
Activists say the fire was equivalent to constitutionally protected flag burning. Cleveland officials say the burning was dangerous and not protected by the First Amendment. The justices will hear the arguments today.
Five activists, including members of the American Indian Movement, set the fire outside Jacobs Field on opening day in 1998 to protest what they called the baseball team's use of racial stereotypes.
The protesters were arrested and jailed on preliminary arson charges, then released without being formally charged.
If you can burn a flag
you should be able to burn a dummy said Terry Gilbert, a Cleveland lawyer representing the five people who sued the city after their arrests.
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