OCEAN CITY — Just one day after a federal judge rejected an attempt to piggyback on a prior case, a collection of Boardwalk street performers late last week filed a formal complaint in U.S. District Court challenging Ocean City’s new ordinance regulating buskers.
Last Tuesday, a group of six Boardwalk street performers filed a motion in U.S. District Court to reopen or reconsider the case of Chase v. Town of Ocean City for the purpose of seeking declaratory judgment against the resort’s contentious street performer ordinance implemented this summer. Within one day, U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Hollander, who presided over the Chase case, sent the motion back to the plaintiffs, opining “only parties to the case may file documents,” and “you may wish to file a new case.”
The plaintiffs, led by Tony Christ, who purposely received the one and only citation issued to a street performer this summer, along with Jim Starck, Joseph Smith, Bill Campion, Sr., Jesse Guthrie and Robert Peasley, heeded the judge’s advice and last Thursday filed a new complaint against the Town of Ocean City. Among other things, the complaint seeks a declaratory judgment against the Town of Ocean City, which, if approved, would essentially dismiss the busker ordinance implemented in July in its entirety. The complaint also seeks $1 million in compensatory and punitive damages against the town for the plaintiffs, and a 90-day license suspension for City Solicitor Guy Ayres, ostensibly because the town’s attorney knew or should have known the new registration requirement in the ordinance violated the Consent Decree from the Chase case in 2011.
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They are giving Guy Ayres too much credit for saying he should have known or knew something. That clown is the biggest dope to walk the face of the earth. He may as well have Ignoramus tattooed across his forehead.
ReplyDeleteI hope the performers win this. They are right on point.
ReplyDeleteIn New Orleans there is a street performer that sued to get his act allowed, wait till he comes to OC.
ReplyDeleteHis act, is called "The Penis Puppeteer" and he preforms with no pants on.
He won a court case to do this under 1st. amendment and because it is also called Art.