Re: Incident Involving Boulder City Council
Dear Adam:
Sheral-Ana Gaertner, representing the boulder Chapter ACLU Board, raised an issue with the State Board, at our meeting last Tuesday evening, regarding an incident which apparently took place several years ago between Boulder's Mayor Durgin and Mr. Duncan Campbell. Ms. Gaertner advised the State Board that it was her understanding that Mayor Durgin had apparently communicated to representatives of the Boulder Chapter that she had been advised by one or more ACLU cooperating attorneys, purportedly on behalf of the Colorado ACLU, that she had some measure of legal right to seek to restrict Mr. Campbell's ability to address a public meting being held in the City of Boulder.
Without attempting to address the substance of the dispute in question, the State Board asked me to confirm to you and the Boulder Chapter Board that (1) the matter in question was never approved by the Colorado ACLU Legal Panel nor Board, nor was it ever accepted as a case by the Colorado ACLU, (2) whoever the referenced cooperating attorney or attorneys may have been, they did not have authority to speak on behalf of or represent the Colorado ACLU on this issue, and (3) ACLU cooperating attorneys are not authorized to present advice or positions of behalf or in the name of the Colorado ACLU without the approval of the Legal Panel or Board of Directors. While cooperating attorneys may certainly express their own opinions on matters of their choosing, it appears that any advice given in the name of the Colorado ACLU on this occasion would have been without authority.
Please let me know if either you or any other members of the Boulder Chapter Board have any additional questions, or would like any additional information, regarding either the general policy noted above or our records regarding the specific incident in question.
Very truly yours,
Edward T. Ramey
Chair, Board of Directors, ACLU of Colorado