ACLU asks high court to end effort to recall Stevenson councilor

STEVENSON — Lawyers with the Washington state branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a brief with the state Supreme Court saying unequivocally that justices should dismiss the recall petition against Lucy Lauser.

Lauser, a transgender woman and a member of Stevenson’s city council, faces two recall petitions, both very similar. They’re rooted in her decision to take off her shirt during two protests outside the county courthouse in downtown Stevenson.

Lauser maintains her actions were political speech. Kathleen Fitzgerald, the Stevenson resident who filed both recall petitions, says Lauser broke her oath of office and the law.

Lauser was arrested for indecent exposure, a misdemeanor, during her second protest and faces separate criminal charges. The ACLU is representing her only in the recall cases.

“The recall process is being misused to silence protest in a critical moment of the targeting of transgender people’s most basic civil rights, dignity and existence,” ACLU lawyers Adrien Leavitt and La Rond Baker wrote in the brief to Washington’s Supreme Court.

They argue that Lauser’s actions are protected by the First Amendment and “cannot, constitutionally, form the basis for recall.” They also argue that the recall petition doesn’t present evidence demonstrating Lauser’s behavior as factually or legally “sufficient” — the legal bar — for a recall to proceed.

“The only way the recall petition at issue here could be legally sufficient would be if the indecent exposure statute criminalized nude political expression,” the brief says. Washington’s law specifically lists breastfeeding as a protected activity but does not mention political expression.

It’s unclear when the Supreme Court will review the case.

Separately, a lower court judge, Randall Krog of Skamania Superior Court, is considering whether Lauser waived certain rights which could affect her ability to request dismissal in that court. The ACLU argues no. After Fitzgerald responds, Lauser will have one more opportunity to reply before the judge is expected to make a decision.

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Emily Harris is a co-founder and Uplift Local’s Community Journalism Director, overseeing the local newsroom network and the Documenters program.