Letter to the Editor

Meeting Fees Threaten Constitutional Freedom

September 5, 2003

Attorney General Thomas F.Reilly
Office of the Attorney General
1 Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108

Dear General:

We write to draw your attention to the “stealth” passage of a piece of legislation that threatens basic constitutional freedoms. In an outside section to the recent supplemental budget, passed in an informal session, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed a law setting stiff fees for the use of various meeting and assembly areas at the State House by non-governmental groups and individuals who previously had the daytime use of these spaces for free. The new fees range upward from a minimum of $1,800 to a whopping $6,600 for large gatherings. The fees are to cover not only actual clean-up and security costs, but “compensation for wear on the building”!

This is a staggering new tax on the Constitutional rights of assembly and to address grievances to the government. It will insure that the Governor and the Legislature will not be bothered by volunteer and non-profit groups representing ordinary or needy citizens. However, the fees will be pocket change to the lobbyists for well-heeled special interests. Moreover, the legislation provides that the State House Superintendent, a political appointee, may waive these fees at his discretion. Are we to believe that such discretion will be exercised on a content-neutral basis?

We call upon you, as the independent constitutional officer charged with the legal affairs of the Commonwealth, not only to speak out against these unconscionable exactions, but to consider whether they do not amount to an unlawful burden on cherished First Amendment rights; and if you conclude that they do, to take appropriate legal action.

Very truly yours,

Sheila R. Decter

Executive Director.
Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action