NYC: Support Viola Plummer in court, Jan.29th vs Christine Quinnt Viola Plummer in court, Jan. 29th vs Christine Quinn

PLEASE COME TO COURT THURSDAY JAN. 29TH @ 9 A.M. , U.S. DISTRICT COURTHOUSE, "CEREMONIAL COURTROOM" (9TH FLOOR), 500 PEARL STREET, MANHATTAN.

 

1,2,3, A, C.E TRAINS TO CHAMBERS STREET STOP.

4,5,6, M,J TRAINS TO BROOKLYN BRIDGE STOP.

 

Viola Plummer vs Christine Quinn Arguments at Court of Appeals

 

The United States Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in the case of Viola Plummer v City Council Speaker Christine Quinn on Thursday, January 29th The hearing will be held at the United States District Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, Manhattan.

On July 9, 2007 City Council Speaker Christine Quinn illegally fired Viola Plummer, who was then City Councilman Charles Barron’s Chief of Staff. The firing was in retaliation for Mrs. Plummer’s and Mr. Barron’s opposition to Speaker Quinn’s racist intervention in the City Council’s naming of 4 blocks in Bedford-Stuyvesant after famed and respected Black Nationalist Sonny Abubadika Carson. Ms. Quinn used the powers of her office to defeat the naming in direct opposition to the wishes of the Black community of Bedford-Stuyvesant and its elected representative Councilman Albert Vann.

Mrs. Plummer immediately challenged her illegal firing in federal court, charging that Speaker Quinn’s actions had violated her constitutional rights and that the Speaker had no right to fire an employee hired by an individual councilmember. Speaker Quinn attempted to remove herself from the suit by claiming “qualified immunity” – i.e. as an elected official she could not be sued. When District Court Judge William Pauley rejected this argument as premature, Speaker Quinn appealed his decision to the Court of Appeals. This will be the subject of the arguments on the 29^th. Attorneys Roger Wareham and Noah Kinigstein represent Mrs. Plummer

Politically Ms. Quinn’s racist and power-hungry actions in Plummer v Quinn must be seen in the same context as she, in conjunction with Mayor Bloomberg, arrogantly demonstrated in organizing the extension of term limits against the wishes of the citizens of New York who had passed such limits in two plebiscites. Those actions are being fought in the court and in the street. The December 12^th Movement, the human rights organization headed by Mrs. Plummer, maintains that an informed and organized community is a key factor in determining the outcome of any legal case. They invite the community to attend the arguments which will be held in the morning of January 29^th. Hearings for that day are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. but people are encouraged to arrive at 9 in order to ensure that they can get in the “Ceremonial Courtroom” on the 9^th floor.