Burk Trying to Move Protest

Even though a federal judge has ruled Martha Burk must take her protest of the all-male membership of Augusta National Golf Club away from the gates and into a field a half-mile away, she says she is continuing her court fight.

Late Monday night, U.S. District Judge Dudley H. Bowen, Jr., ruled as constitutional a new city ordinance giving Augusta wide discretion in handling protests and then ruled Richmond County Sheriff Ronald Strength was within his rights to determine it was for the good of public safety to deny Burk and her protesters the right to stand outside the main gate of Augusta National on Saturday during the third round of the Masters.

“I’m not surprised by the ruling,” said Burk, head of the National Council of Women’s Organizations. “I’ve been told that Judge Bowen has very close ties to several members of Augusta National, to the extent I believe he should have recused himself from this case.”

A spokeswoman for Bowen, who is from Augusta and a graduate of the University of Georgia and its law school, said the judge would have no comment on Burk’s remarks.

Strength said Tuesday that it was a legitimate concern for public safety that has led him to move potential protesters to a 5.1-acre site a half mile from the club. The site, also owned by Augusta National, is a low piece of ground that was almost underwater Tuesday after two days of storms.

But the area on Washington Road in front of the club is also congested. Tuesday, in a steady rain and on a day of practice, it took nearly 40 minutes to drive a mile from one end of the club to the other. People who had attended practice were dashing across the street, often not paying attention to the traffic.

Burk said, “You’ll have thousands of people walking by there and we’re only asking for 24 protesters on each side of the road.”

Strength said, “the congestion in front of the main entrance, both foot and auto traffic congestion, is just too much.”

In his 17-page decision, Bowen wrote that “the ordinance does not discriminate against a particular viewpoint or limit speech to certain subject matters. The ordinance, on its face, demonstrates that providing for the safety of the protesters and onlookers was the primary concern of the commission. It is axiomatic that a government has a compelling interest in providing for the safety of its citizens.”

Burk responded: “There is no safety issue. This is a 1st Amendment issue.”

The Georgia chapter of the ACLU, which filed the original lawsuit on Burk’s behalf, has filed an appeal to the 11th District federal court in Atlanta.

“We’re disappointed with these rulings,” said Gerry Weber, legal director of the Georgia ACLU. “We feel Judge Bowen put his concerns for Augusta National over the 1st Amendment and free speech.” He said he hopes to have a ruling from the three-judge court no later than Friday.

Burk and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who have scheduled a news conference Thursday in Atlanta at the Martin Luther King Center, plan a demonstration against the all-male club Saturday from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Several other groups -- including a faction of the Ku Klux Klan and a group called “People Against Ridiculous Protests” -- have also filed for permits to demonstrate Saturday.