The Boston Freedom Rally is an annual event in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. Held on the third Saturday in September, it is traditionally the second largest annual gathering demanding marijuana law reform in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, after the Seattle Hempfest

Seattle Hempfest

Seattle Hempfest is an annual event in Seattle, Washington, the world's largest annual gathering advocating decriminalization of marijuana. Founded in 1991 as the Washington Hemp Expo, a self-described "humble gathering of stoners" attended by only 500 people, and renamed the following year as...

. It is organized by the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition (MASS CANN), the Massachusetts state affiliate of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws also known as MASS CANN/NORML

MASS CANN/NORML

The ‘”Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition'" a state affiliate of the NationalOrganization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws is a non-profit public education organization...

.

The first Freedom Rally was held in 1989 in North Adams, Massachusetts

North Adams, Massachusetts

North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,708 as of the 2010 census, making it the least populous city in the state...

. The second was on the dock beside the USS Constitution

USS Constitution

USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. Named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America, she is the world's oldest floating commissioned naval vessel...

. The third was held in front of the Massachusetts State House

Massachusetts State House

The Massachusetts State House, also known as the Massachusetts Statehouse or the "New" State House, is the state capitol and house of government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is located in Boston in the neighborhood Beacon Hill...

 on Beacon Street and the fourth, in 1992, was held on Boston Common

Boston Common

Boston Common is a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts. It is sometimes erroneously referred to as the "Boston Commons". Dating from 1634, it is the oldest city park in the United States. The Boston Common consists of of land bounded by Tremont Street, Park Street, Beacon Street,...

 at the Parkman Bandstand

Parkman Bandstand

The Parkman Bandstand is a landmark bandstand located on the eastern side of the Boston Common in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. It was built in 1912 from a design by Derby, Robinson & Shephard at a cost of $1 million on the site of the Cow Pond , which had been filled in 1838 after cattle-grazing had...

. In 1995 the Freedom Rally moved to its current location across the Common on the Carty Parade Field.

Permitting problems

Boston Common is America's oldest public ground and the place where rights to free speech and assembly were first established. Since 1992 MASS CANN/NORML's Freedom Rally has been held on Boston Common. The city of Boston, under the leadership of Mayor Thomas Menino

Thomas Menino

Thomas Michael "Tom" Menino is the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, United States and the city's first Italian-American mayor...

, has tried to stop the Freedom Rally by denying MASS CANN/NORML permits.

MASS CANN/NORML won an injunction

Injunction

An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...

 forcing the City of Boston to issue a permit for their 1997 rally. After many years of abuse from petty parks officials regarding the permitting process; the city’s unconstitutional demands for cash and limits imposed on MASS CANN/NORML to the exclusion of all others (such as a limit of 10,000 attendees and 8 food vendors) forced MASS CANN/NORML into court. In granting the injunction Judge Belvin Perry described MASS CANN/NORML's attempts to get permits as a, "... tortured history."

Also in 1997, in an act of obvious spite, the City sued MASS CANN/NORML and its president for $17,000 in damages to the Common and fines. MASS CANN/NORML had already paid the amount the city had asked for, almost $2,000, to clean the Common. The city decided to sue MASS CANN/NORML rather than bother to even ask them for the money. MASS CANN/NORML counter-sued pointing out that the City's suit was prima facie

Prima facie

Prima facie is a Latin expression meaning on its first encounter, first blush, or at first sight. The literal translation would be "at first face", from the feminine form of primus and facies , both in the ablative case. It is used in modern legal English to signify that on first examination, a...

evidence of the City's continued interference despite the injunction. Both suits were summarily dismissed.

The 1998 rally permit process was similarly litigious. Massachusetts Superior Court hearings before Judge Carol Ball began in July, purposefully early to forefend a last minute rush. At the first hearing the City was ordered to produce a list of requirements MASS CANN/NORML would be have to meet in order to receive a permit. At the second hearing the judge told the City their requirements didn't meet constitutional muster, ordered them to issue a permit, but mentioned that restrictions that were not unconstitutional were permissible.

The City issued a permit with many restrictions MASS CANN/NORML could or would not meet. The judge heard arguments and ordered all the restrictions MASS CANN/NORML could or would not acquiesce to be dropped. MASS CANN/NORML moved for summary judgment and the 1997 and 1998 suits were consolidated. On March 7, 2002 Justice Allan van Gestel found in MASS CANN/NORML’s favor and awarded a judgment of over $31,000.

In 2008, the city of Boston issued a permit for the nineteenth Freedom Rally that sought to illegally cut-off funding for the event by directing donations from food vendors at the rally away from MASS CANN/NORML and to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston instead. Again, on September 18, 2008, ACLU pro-bono attorney John Swomley testified in support of an injunction at a hearing before Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Carol Ball (who had granted the 1997 injunction). The city attorney presented no evidence and no written testimony. Judge Ball was very unhappy with the city’s permitting restrictions and while granting the injunction told the city attorney, “You people must be crazy.”

External links

• MikeCann.net One of the Producers of Freedom Rally, Books Music Acts, Covers Rally and Other MassCann/NORML Events
• Boston Freedom Rally Website
• Official MASS CANN/NORML Website
• NORML National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
• City of Boston's Boston Common Web page