October 2007 update:
A small step forward: a panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has denied O'Hara Township's motion to the Court to refuse our request to submit a brief that exceeds the specified word count. (Did you catch all of that??) This is a good thing since it means that the Court has accepted our brief and that it is officially on the docket. The Township's response to our brief is now due November 21.
Late September 2007 update:
Things are moving along out in Boulder, Colorado where Greg and Debbie Ching have been dealing with a cease and desist order very similar to the one that was filed against us back in 2003. The Boulder County Commission has scheduled a hearing on some proposed regulations that look pretty restrictive. Greg and his friends expect to be at the hearing on October 16 in force (last time there were around 200 of them) to ensure that their voices are heard. There's also an article related to the upcoming hearing that contains some good quotes from Greg (albeit not as much substance as one might like to see). And if you'd really like to know more about the details of the Ching's situation, take the time to check out these pages on Greg's web site:
Early September 2007 update:
Post-Gazette commentator Ruth Ann Dailey published a spirited reaction to the article about our benefit concert that does a great job of setting out the Constitutional issues in a way that anyone can understand. Don't forget to let your friends know about it too -- the more people who catch on to the issues, the easier it will be for all of us to stand up for our Constitutional rights in all situations.
On the legal front, the news is once again about waiting. The brief we filed with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals was slightly longer than the Court requested, so we also filed a request to exceed the word count. These requests are ordinarily granted unless they are clearly excessive, but in our case counsel for the Township chose to file a motion asking the Court to deny our request. That stops the clock: until the Court rules on the Township's motion, no date is set for the Township to respond to our brief. Once the Court has ruled, they will have six weeks to respond.
If you haven't yet taken the time to send a donation to the Music Right Next Door Legal Fund, we'd like to encourage you to do that. It may not seem like a little $10 or $25 donation will help us much, but we're out to raise $10 from each of 1000 people by the end of 2007, and that definitely adds up. This is all about individuals banding together to support First Amendment rights in a big way. If we don't do that, we're all headed down a slippery slope that ends with none of us being "permitted" any freedom in our own living rooms or anywhere else.
August 2007 update:
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published an article about our recent concert with Andy Cohen to benefit the Lauri Ann West Memorial Library in O'Hara Township. If you read it, click the link to e-mail it to someone else who you think might be interested too! And if you want a really good read that will give you some amazing insight into the complexities of a situation that seems so simple on the surface, check out the brief that was just filed with the Federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
June 2007 update:
The wheels of justice grind slowly. We've now completed the recommended mediation process without any useful result and are waiting for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to issue a briefing order. In the meantime, you might like to read an excellent article from Musician's Atlas that includes an interview with Cindy as well as several others who are involved in house concerts in a variety of roles.
 March 2007 update:
Things are moving along with our Federal civil rights complaint against O'Hara Township. The case is now on appeal to the Federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals. More information and documentation is available here. And of course we're continuing to accumulate legal bills to support the suit. So we're asking for help from everyone who hosts house concerts, performs at house concerts, or attends house concerts. There are at least two ways you can help.
First, you can donate to the recently established Music Right Next Door Legal Fund. There is a whole lot of detail at the web site on the status of the case and how and why we set up the fund, and how to donate, so I won't repeat it here, but I hope you can help financially. If everyone who attends a house concert for the next year decides to send $10 to the fund, it would make it a whole lot easier for us to deal with the mounting cost of preserving everyone's Constitutional right to gather in living rooms across the country to enjoy live music (or any other legal activity for that matter) without government interference.
The second thing you can do is take the "Music Right Next Door Legal Fund" graphic from this page (designed by Ivan Stiles), put it on your own web site or blog along with a short comment about why you support us, and link it to http://livingroommusic.googlepages.com . Let me know if you've done that, and I'll post a link back to you on the Music Right Next Door blog. This is a very effective way of getting the word out, and we'd be most grateful to anyone who can help.
If you have any questions about our Federal complaint against O'Hara Township, house concerts in Pittsburgh, or the Music Right Next Door Legal Fund, you can contact us directly.
April 18, 2006 update:
After three years of continued quiet hosting of occasional house concerts in my living room with the cease and desist order in effect, O'Hara Township suddenly chose to send us a letter threatening to take us to court and have us fined for each future occurence. Since we clearly stated at the time of the hearing in 2003 that we would consider any attempt to enforce the cease and desist order a violation of our rights under the First and Fourteenth amendments to the Constitution, we have chosen to file a civil rights complaint in Federal court. You can read the complaint here.
We've also established a blog called "Music In My Living Room" to foster discussion about the interface between zoning law and Constitutional rights. You can follow the progress of our complaint there and find out how you can help especially if you're a performer or a house concert fan who understands how valuable such gatherings can be in a community. And just for fun, performer Kathy Moser has written a song called "Right Next Door" that you can listen to, learn for yourself and maybe even sing if it tickles your fancy and fits with your repertoire. My daughter and I are in the process of recording a CD, so as long as we were in the studio we took a stab at it too, and you can listen to it here. If you DO get involved, be sure to let me know either by posting at the "Music In My Living Room" blog or by sending me an e-mail. |