Attorney Andrea Burton was defending her client in court Friday (July 22) when Judge Robert Milich of the Youngstown Municipal Court noticed her “Black Lives Matter” pin. He asked her to remove it, but when Burton refused she was taken into custody for contempt.
Burton was released after her lawyer filed an appeal, but she still faces five days in jail if it is denied. Judge Milich citing Supreme Court case Berner v. Delahanty, which held that the “prohibition of political buttons was a reasonable method of ‘maintaining proper order and decorum’ in a courtroom, which is not a public forum.” In other words, the judges can prohibit symbolic political expression in courtrooms even if it is not disruptive.
“There’s a difference between a flag, a pin from your church or the Eagles and having a pin that’s on a political issue,” said Milich. “A judge is objective and tries to make sure everyone has an opportunity to have a fair hearing, and it was a situation where it was just in violation of the law.”
Activist and attorney Kim Akins questions this narrative.
“No one wearing an American flag button, no one wearing a crucifix or a Star of David would be removed, so why this particular statement bothered him so much is bothersome,” she said.
The Youngstown chapter of the NAACP is keeping a close eye on the case as it may be a violation of Burton’s civil rights.
“We will do all that the NAACP Youngstown can do to ensure that Attorney Burton’s Constitutional rights are not being violated,” chapter President George Freeman, Jr. said in a statement.
He also expressed his hope that the NAACP’s efforts will prevent Burton from “being another part of the disproportionate number of African Americans ending up in prison on trumped up charges on exercising their 1st and 14th amendment rights as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.”
