Network Director Found Guilty
Brett Bursey was convicted Jan. 6 in federal court of refusing to leave a restricted area and go to a free speech zone. Bursey, who faced 6 months in prison and a $5000 fine, was fined $500. "We are appealing," Bursey said, "because this establishes the bad legal precident that the Secret Service has no limits on the size of restricted zones they establish around the president." The restricted zone when Bursey was arrested was over 70 acres and stretched for a mile.
Lewis Pitts, Bursey's lead attorney said, "we are dismayed that the judiciary failed in its role of keeping the executive branch of our government operating within constitutional boundaries. We we made the case that Mr. Bursey was not arrested because he was a threat to the president's physical security, but because the White House has a policy of keeping protesters out of sight at Mr. Bush's appearances. I'm sure we would have won if we had a jury."
"We believe that it is important that we appeal, because the ever increasing size of the sanitized areas around the president make a mockery of the first amendment," Bursey said.