Gov. Bevin Didn't Have Reason To Stop Protesters From Entering Statehouse, Attorney General Says
Source: Think Progress
The Poor People's Campaign said the state didn't have any legal reason to stop them from entering, and the Kentucky attorney general agreed. State-imposed limits on activists’ access to the Kentucky Capitol violated the law, Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear (D) said in a legal opinion on Monday.
Activists from the Poor People’s Campaign, a national campaign that focuses on poverty, labor rights, housing and other issues, were denied entry into the Kentucky statehouse multiple times in June. Uniformed guards at the Capitol told activists that only two people from the campaign could enter at a time. But in the opinion, Beshear (D) said Gov. Matt Bevin’s (R) administration broke the law by denying them access.
On June 11, the second time activists came to enter the Capitol, a guard told activists, “I am following my protocol to only let two people in at a time” and suggested they contact Kentucky state police. Activists then sat down in front of the metal detector and shouted “Let us in!” Media outlets such as WUKY and the Courier-Journal did not get responses from Kentucky state police or the governor after activists’ first attempt to enter the building.
Democratic state lawmakers wrote to Beshear to find out why activists were not permitted inside the building. Poor People’s Campaign activists asked for more information on which regulations the governor used to justify denying them access. Con't..
Read more: https://thinkprogress.org/kentucky-attorney-general-says-poor-peoples-campaign-was-illegally-barred-from-entering-capitol-242685d9547e/
Attica Scott, one of the Democratic state lawmakers who wrote to Beshear questioning the state’s limit on access to the statehouse, said the attorney general’s opinion is a “major tool” for the campaign to use in a court challenge, according to the Herald-Leader. Scott also tweeted in response to the news, “If anyone should have access to petition their government, it’s people living in poverty who have the least representation.”
KY Attorney General Andy Beshear (D) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Beshear
KY Governor Matt Bevin (R)
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