White Separatist Group Sues Town of Jena, La., Over Parade Rules

A white separatist group planning a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Jena, La., is suing the town, claiming officials are violating the Constitution by asking participants not to bring firearms, changing the parade route by one block, and requiring the posting of a bond.

The Nationalist Movement filed the federal lawsuit December 14 and is seeking a temporary restraining order to keep the town from interfering with the Learned, Miss.-based group's Jena Justice Day rally. Group officials claim the town's rules violate their 14th Amendment rights to due process.

The planned January 21 march is in response to the thousands who rallied on September 20 in Jena in support of six black teens who have become known as the ''Jena 6'' and against what they claimed was disproportionately harsh treatment of blacks by prosecutors.

The Jena High students were initially charged with attempted murder in connection with a December 4, 2006, attack on a white student. All charges were later reduced to aggravated second-degree battery or second-degree battery.

''When a group of, say, minorities or homosexuals want to have a parade, they aren't usually required to put up a bond or pay for police or pay for cleanup,'' said Barry Hackney, a spokesman for the organization.

The ordinance, Mayor Murphy McMillin said, has been in place for ''many, many years.'' All seven of the organizations that participated in the September rally complied with all the guidelines, town officials said.

There were no reports of arrests or vandalism after more than 20,000 rallied in support of the Jena 6.

Hackney said the Nationalist Movement will not come to Jena if their concerns are not resolved by January 21.

Walter Dorroh, attorney for Jena, said the community would follow the laws and let due process work.

The Nationalist Movement has among its missions revoking integration at the University of Mississippi, and it has called on its football coach to de-integrate the team.

In an October 15 letter to McMillin, Richard Barrett, an attorney for the Nationalists, asks the town for electricity for loudspeakers and electronic equipment, ''adequate security,'' restroom facilities, access to drinking water, ''adequate and secure parking,'' and no noise from hecklers.

In McMillin's November 27 response to Barrett's requests, he asked Barrett to fill out the permit application and provide proof, as is required in the ordinance, of a $10,000 bond. He also pointed out that the town doesn't have responsibility for and wouldn't be providing restrooms, water, food, on-site emergency medical care, or electricity.

McMillin said these services were provided by the parish for the September rally, and he encouraged Barrett to contact the LaSalle Parish Police Jury about those needs.

The Nationalists say Jena's rules governing public demonstrations are invalid and unconstitutionally over-broad.

The Nationalist Movement successfully sued York, Pa., over fees the city tried to charge it for a rally the group held in 2003. That rally drew five members of the movement. (AP)