A civil rights organization is warning Shasta County about constitutional violations they say occurred during a room-clearing incident at last Thursday evening’s Board of Supervisors meeting. Regular meeting attendee and commenter Jenny O’Connell-Nowain stood in front of the dais and held up a sign that said “Joanna is The True Patriot”, an apparent reference to Assistant Registrar of Voters Joanna Francescut. Jenny was soon joined by her husband, Benjamin. Chair Kevin Crye ordered a five minute recess, but CEO David Rickert said he first needed to issue a warning to the Nowains, which Crye did. The public was then cleared from the chambers but, in a departure from previous incidents, the press was eventually forced out along with everybody else as deputies cited a potential safety issue. The First Amendment Coalition, citing the Brown Act and the U.S. and State Constitutions, says the County was wrong to dismiss the press as there was no actual threat to anyone’s safety. Jenny, who staged a similar sit-in protest in July, was booked and released at the jail on a charge of disturbing a public meeting.
-Steve Gibson