Federal Appeals Court Blocks Burk

A federal appeals court in Atlanta denied an emergency request by Martha Burk and her National Council of Women’s Organizations that she be allowed to conduct a protest Saturday outside the main gate of Augusta National Golf Club.

Burk plans to conduct a protest of Augusta National’s males-owner membership policy on the third day of the Masters.

After a city ordinance was passed earlier this year allowing Augusta broad latitude in granting protesters permits for their actions, Richmond County Sheriff Ronald Strength said that such a protest during the tournament would have to take place in a five-acre field, also owned by Augusta National, about half a mile from the club.

Strength has said he is concerned about the safety of protesters and tournament fans in the congested area in front of the gates on Washington Road and Magnolia Lane.

Burk, with the help of the Georgia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, had filed a lawsuit requesting permission to post 24 picketers in front of the club.

Monday, U.S. District Judge Dudley H. Bowen Jr. had ruled the city was within its constitutional rights to pass the ordinance regulating the protests, and Wednesday night a three-judge panel in Atlanta refused the request to block the Monday ruling.

“I’m disappointed,” Burk said Wednesday. “I’m disappointed that there is this wall of discrimination. It seems the local authorities, the judges, are willing to do what the club wishes and deny us our free speech rights.

“I think it’s clear the wishes of the club were put ahead of the constitution.”

Burk also said her lawyers were investigating a possible loophole in the city ordinance that might allow a group of fewer than five picketers to march in front of the main gate without benefit of a permit.

Jesse Jackson, whose Rainbow Coalition plans to join Saturday’s protest, and Burk have scheduled a news conference for today at the Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta. Burk said that while there is no further legal recourse that can be taken in time to change the ruling for Saturday, she plans to pursue further legal action for future protests.