OutFest Unrest

by Mary F. Patel

District attorney candidate Seth Williams drew the ire of some members of the gay and lesbian community last week when he issued a press release accusing Distric Attorney Lynne Abraham of "overprosecuting" the OutFest case.

The controversy started last October when 11 members of Repent America, a conservative religious group that opposes homosexuality, were arrested during the OutFest street party in Center City [Cover Story, "Jesus Geek Superstar," Doron Taussig, Feb. 3, 2005]. Having protested the event with bullhorns, they were also accused of disrupting the festivities and faced eight criminal charges including reckless endangerment of another person, ethnic intimidation and riot. Municipal Court Judge William Meehan ordered four of the defendants to stand trial — a fifth defendant was a juvenile — but last week, Common Pleas Court Judge Pamela Dembe dismissed all the charges, saying this country protects free speech, unpopular or not.

Williams, a former assistant district attorney, said in his release that the ruling is just the latest example "in a long history of overcharging" and that Abraham "insists on throwing every charge in the book at every defendant and then claims outrage or surprise when case after case is thrown out of court." He called the charges exaggerated and said that "the case turned a small group of party crashers into heroes of the far right."

"As a former prosecutor with over a decade of experience in Philadelphia, I have seen firsthand the dangers of the current practice of overcharging cases," he concluded. "When I am sworn in as our city's next district attorney, I will immediately end this unethical and disgraceful practice."

Williams' stance drew some quick criticism.

"Who the hell would vote for him?" asked Irene Benedetti, who was appointed by Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson as the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community's police liaison. Present when the arrests occurred, she added, "I wonder if he would have said the same things if the situation had been reversed? Would he have said the same things if members of the LGBT community had been arrested?"

She said Williams was inserting politics into the situation. "Looks like he is just trying to do what Repent America did — get free publicity."

Franny Price, an OutFest organizer, said she never heard of Williams. "He's never come to one of our events," she said. "Why wasn't he making a statement back in October when all this happened? Why did he wait for the judge's ruling?"

Price maintains the district attorney's office did not overcharge the case because a riot almost ensued; it was only forestalled through the intervention of the Pink Angels, who held up huge sheets of pink insulation to block the protesters.

Price added that she was disappointed by the judge's ruling and hoped the city would appeal. Still, Williams spokesman Dale Wilcox says the candidate was not just grabbing headlines.

"Seth has been talking about the DA overcharging cases for a while," he said. "He is consistent with the statements made by [Pennsylvania ACLU legislative director] Larry Frankel and the U.S. Constitution. "

Wilcox, who was referring to comments Frankel made to the Daily News about a related restraining order, added that by overprosecuting, the district attorney hurts the community because, as a result of the prosecutions, state legislators are now drafting bills to strip sexual orientation from Pennsylvania's hate-crimes statute.

"The candidate," he says, "is for total equality."

GOP Running for DA Too

Local Republicans have picked Louis Schwartz as their candidate for district attorney. The 41-year-old criminal defense attorney, long active in the party, is the son of former Municipal Court Judge Harry Schwartz, who is now a workman's compensation appeals officer.

"I consider my base to be Center City and the Northeast," said Schwartz, who is currently forming a task force to define his platform.

Knowing that running as a Republican can be daunting and expensive, he said, "You do what you can. There are a lot of big Republican donors out there."

Future of Philly?

Does this city have a future? Has the federal probe hurt the city's image? Those questions and others will be the focus of the Third Annual State of the City panel discussion hosted by Center City Proprietors Association and the Pennsylvania Economy League next month at the World Café.

Panelists will include Innovation Philadelphia head Rich Bendis, Center City District Executive Director Paul Levy, city Commerce Director Stephanie Naidoff, Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce CEO Mark Schweiker and Pennsylvania Economy League Southeastern Pennsylvania Executive Director David Thornburgh. For more information, call the CCPA at 215-545-7766.