By: Mayor Don Williamson has agreed to pay $150,000 to a newspaper carrier who was arrested for delivering The Flint Journal to subscribers at city hall, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan said Wednesday.
The proposed settlement comes almost two years after Williamson issued an executive order prohibiting city employees from reading or having non-work-related reading material on city property during work hours.
On Sept. 21, 2004, police detained Journal carrier Tom Hansen after Williamson saw him trying to deliver the newspaper to subscribers at city hall. Hansen was questioned at the police station but later was released without being charged, the ACLU said in a statement.
Williamson had issued the order July 7, 2004, after calling for a boycott of The Journal because it had criticized the mayor's policies.
The ACLU later sued Williamson and the city on behalf of Hansen, claiming his constitutional rights were violated. In a ruling dated June 20, U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts dropped the city as a defendant but said Hansen's suit against Williamson could proceed to trial.
The $150,000 settlement is subject to Flint City Council approval.
"The settlement is not only a victory for freedom of speech and freedom of the press," said Michael J. Steinberg, legal director for the Michigan ACLU. "It is also victory for all the little guys in this country who stand up to abuse of power by government officials."
Said Hansen, 57: "I am truly relieved that this ordeal is finally behind me. I still can't believe the mayor ordered the police to arrest me for delivering newspapers to subscribers. I not only felt wronged on a personal level, but I felt wronged as an American who cherishes our Constitution and our Bill of Rights."
A message seeking comment was left on Williamson's cell phone Wednesday night.
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