Publisher's Notebook

The Capitol Bell Tower in Richmond sits nestled in the lower left corner of the Capitol Grounds in downtown Richmond. It has a rich history – it has been in the same location since 1824, and it has been used as a guard house and its bell tolled to warn of approaching Union forces toward the end of the Civil War. Currently it’s home to a very nice tourism office. Check out the Virginia State Capitol History Project for more info.

Probably most frequently in an old city with a lot of wooden dwellings, the tower served to guard against fires — the fire bell was tolled to call out the volunteers to douse any flames.

So last week, history served up a slice of irony. According to Richmond’s WTVR, the Fire Department got a call to head downtown.

Their destination? The old fire bell tower was on fire.

More exactly, some woodwork in place during restoration of the tower was smoldering. Firefighters wet everything down, and damage was minimal.

Image: A vintage post card available on Wikimedia, including strolling women with parasols. Current framing and restoration work not pictured…

On Oct. 31, Ian Graham got dressed for work. Although he is a photographer and more likely to wear jeans on the job, he put on a coat and tie.

Later that evening he was wearing handcuffs.

Graham works for RVA Magazine, an alternative entertainment and arts publication in Richmond. That night, he had a free-lance gig to photograph a Halloween party at a trendy Richmond nightclub.

Around 1 a.m., when the typical Halloween bash is at its scariest, he got a phone call from Preston Duncan, the publisher of RVA Magazine. The police were moving on the Occupy Richmond site. Let’s get over there and cover it, Duncan said.

The two men went to Kanawha Plaza in downtown Richmond, a public square that was full of hand-lettered protest signs and a scruffy crowd of people who had been camping there for weeks. Like so many protesters in different cities who sought to follow the example of the “Occupy Wall Street” organizers, they railed, somewhat indiscriminately, against “greed” or corporate anything.

In an account published at rvamag.com, Duncan wrote that while he and Graham were standing on the public sidewalk on the perimeter of the plaza, they were threatened with arrest by the police. They moved to the area designated for journalists. But the view from that corner was obscured.

Graham walked to the middle of a crosswalk to get a better angle. He was arrested for trespassing and handcuffed. There were other people on both sides of the crosswalk, Graham wrote in the same account.

“But none of them had cameras,” he added.

Graham was charged under Virginia Code § 18.2-119, a section called “Trespass after having been forbidden to do so.” It is a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.

Graham told me that he was supposed to have a hearing on Nov. 18; he and his lawyer, Patrick Anderson, expected the charges to be dropped. But the Richmond commonwealth’s attorney’s office for some reason is playing hardball, so Anderson got a continuance.

Anderson, who has been retained by the American Civil Liberties Union to represent Graham, said he couldn’t comment except to confirm that the matter is set for trial on Jan. 24. The Richmond commonwealth’s attorney’s office wasn’t talking either; they didn’t return my call by press time.

Graham’s case is one of eight instances across the country in which journalists have been arrested while seeking to cover police activity relating to Occupy protests. That’s a distinction the City of Richmond, and the Commonwealth of Virginia, should not be proud of.

Journalist groups in the commonwealth have lodged protests with police and prosecutors over Graham’s arrest; there is even a Facebook group called “Free Ian Graham.”

The Virginia Code provides a strong statement of public policy about how journalists should be treated when covering news events. It’s about police lines, but you will get the idea. Code § 15.2-1714 allows “personnel from information services such as press, radio and television” to cross a police line “when gathering news,” so long as they don’t obstruct the police in their work. In other words, as a question of policy, journalists with cameras get to go where others can’t, when they are covering news events.

According to Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, very few other states provide such statutory protection to the news media. Virginia’s statute is strong and could serve as a model for other states, he said.

What exactly is Graham accused of? Here is the pertinent language of Code § 18.2-119: “If any person without authority of law goes upon or remains upon the lands, buildings or premises of another … after having been forbidden to do so … by the owner, lessee, custodian, or the agent of any such person, or other person lawfully in charge thereof … he shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.”

This statute is used by landlords to get rid of deadbeat tenants, by merchants to prevent suspected shoplifters from coming into a store and by public housing projects to keep away undesirables.

Ian Graham, armed with his camera and doing his job as a photojournalist, doesn’t fit that list.

There are so many ifs to a prosecution under this statute: If Graham was there “without authority of law.” If the officers issued a proper warning, “forbidding” Graham from any locale. If the cops were the custodians or “lawfully in charge” of the street. If this statute even applies.

The Supreme Court of Virginia has interpreted Code § 18.2-119 and predecessor statutes in a number of cases. In 1929, the court held that the trespass law does not apply to “thoroughfares,” a position it has reiterated repeatedly. A 1990 Virginia Court of Appeals opinion defined thoroughfares: “those ways or passages designated for public access.” Sounds like a crosswalk to me.

Why hasn’t this case been dropped? Why has Graham been forced to lawyer up and sweat out a possible jail term?

There’s hardball, and then there is the pursuit of unwarranted criminal charges that aren’t supported by the facts or the law. Call that what it is: governmental intimidation and an abuse of an individual’s basic rights.

Free Ian Graham?

Hell, yes. Free us all.

The historic Hotel John Marshall in downtown Richmond closed its doors in 1988.

A landmark on the Richmond skyline since it opened in 1929, a generation of lawyers will remember their bar swearing-in there. It’s been closed for years, but lately it’s been getting a makeover on its way to being an apartment building.

Here’s some history in the making. This morning, the grand old hotel started getting new letters for its distinctive sign.

Photo by Alan Cooper, who has a much better view of the sign from his desk than I have (mine being no view at all…)

A new year, a new college mascot search in the commonwealth, it seems.

Last spring, the College of William & Mary undertook a mascot search that gave Tribe fans “the Griffin.”

Now the University of Richmond is planning to replace “Spidey,” its current bug-headed and caped mascot (right).

“Spidey” isn’t the critter’s real name, though. The people at Marvel Entertainment, who own everything related to “Spider-man,” hold that copyright. UR fans generally use that name, although the school has not promoted it, upon advice of counsel.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, money is in part driving the decision to get a new mascot. UR can make some bucks on plush toys and other mascot-related memorabilia.

UR says it teams will remain the “Spiders.” In fact, the school sports site notes that UR is the only college in the entire country to use that nickname. Historical fact: UR fielded teams called “the Colts” in the late 19th century; in 1894, when a reporter observed that a lanky, long-armed pitcher looked a spider on the baseball mound, a new name was born and it stuck.

Of course, the new UR mascot doesn’t have to be an arachnid. It could end up being something completely different. William & Mary’s teams go by the moniker “the Tribe” and the Griffin is a mythical creature that is part eagle and part lion. Not terribly tribal.

Like W&M last year, UR will allow the public to vote on the new mascot. In March, the school will debut a website with three choices. The one that gets the most votes becomes the new mascot. The public also will get the name the new mascot. Stay tuned.

A quick aside: For all the hoopla in 2010 at W&M over the Griffin, the creature remains nameless. The school promised, but has yet to conduct, a public naming contest.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was in Richmond on Friday. And he took back a souvenir he said he’d never forget.

Scalia, recently named Orator in Residence at the University of Richmond, gave a talk at UR in the afternoon, then he attended the annual Red Mass at St. Benedict Church. The Red Mass, a tradition dating back to 1245 in Europe, is an annual religious service for judges, lawyers, law professors and law students. It gets its name from the bright red vestments worn by the priests for the occasion.

After the service, Scalia was the speaker and guest of honor at a dinner hosted by the St. Thomas More Society, the Catholic lawyers group based in Richmond.

In introducing Scalia, UR law professor Kevin Walsh, who clerked for Scalia, noted that the justice cited More, as depicted in the play “A Man for All Seasons,” as his favorite figure in literature. And Scalia discussed More in his talk. More was the chancellor to King Henry VIII, and he refused to capitulate to Henry when he wanted to dump his wife, Catherine of Aragon. Only the pope can grant that wish, More said, even though the papacy at the time was corrupt. Henry didn’t like that answer, and More was beheaded.

After the speech, Society President Eric Gregory and Steve Reardon presented Scalia with a unique gift – a hat just like the one worn by More in the famous Hans Holbein portrait (Take a look at the picture.) Reardon had scoured Richmond and found a hatmaker who could fill the bill.

“I hope you don’t have one like it already,” Gregory said.

Scalia, clearly tickled by his new lid, said no, adding that he’d wear it in an academic procession.

What are they thinking?

Another week, another person charged with having drugs while coming to court for a different offense.

Earlier this month, we reported on a guy in Suffolk who emptied his pockets to go through a metal detector at the Suffolk courthouse. Along with stuff like change, keys and gum was a bag of dope, allegedly.

Fast forward two weeks, move up the map to Richmond. According to a WTVR.COM report, a 21-year-old woman showed up in Richmond traffic court last Friday. During a routine pat-down, the officer allegedly found, yep, some marijuana.

She was charged with misdemeanor possession and told to return to face the music April 26.

The Richmond woman is only 21; the guy in Suffolk is 19. What are they teaching in school these days?

Richmond Sheriff C.T. Woody Jr. said, “This is an example of how drugs inevitably affect a person’s ability to make rational decisions.” Maybe he has a point.

Richmond lawyer Andy Nea will be honored later this month by the Richmond Bar Association when he picks up the RBA’s John C. Kenny Pro Bono Award for 2009-2010.

The association gives the Kenny award annually to an individual or law firm that shows dedication in furthering the delivery of pro bono legal services to the poor and underserved in the metro Richmond area.

Nea, who is the pro bono partner at Williams Mullen, has given thousands of hours of his own time on pro bono work and he coordinates the activities of more than 300 lawyers in Virginia, North Carolina and DC.

Among the groups for whom he has worked or given his time and leadership: Habitat for Humanity, the Boy Scouts of America, the Legal Information Network for Cancer, Lawyers for Warriors, the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society and the United Way.

Also, he is a member of the board of directors of the Greater Richmond Bar Foundation.

One nomination noted that Nea was instrumental in creating the “Firms for Service” organization, which was started with the purpose of encouraging pro bono work from all of Richmond’s law firms.

And another nomination perhaps said it best: Andy “does not see his service to the community as a requirement of his profession – rather, he views his service as a duty of the heart. He embodies the spirit of service, and opens the doors for others to serve – and receive services – like no other.”

The award will be presented at the RBA’s Jan. 21 luncheon at the Omni. John Luke, the chairman and CEO of MeadWestvaco, will be the featured speaker that day.

It’s four days past Halloween, and some people don’t want to give up their costumes.

Take, for example, the panhandler with a guitar on Main Street in downtown Richmond today. He was strumming and singing…while wearing a Big Bird head. Yes, Big Bird, the big yellow character from “Sesame Street.”

I walked by and, I promise this is true, he was playing “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

It hasn’t been easy being a baseball fan in the Holy City on the James during the past year or so.

First the Triple-A Richmond Braves left town, after about 40 years here. Then there was the back and forth of whether we’d get a Double-A team. (With the demotion, I couldn’t shake from my head that line from Alabama’s tune, “The Cheap Seats”: “Our ball club may be minor-league, but at least it’s Triple-A….”).

Then we got a team – the Double-A Connecticut Defenders, a San Francisco Giants affiliate, were moving to Richmond. Okay, at least it’s baseball.

For the last few weeks, the club’s owners have tried to build excitement, seeking fan entries for the new as-yet-unnamed Richmond Fill-in-the-Blanks. Team names in minor league baseball often are “fun” or whimsical, such as the Montgomery (Ala.) Biscuits, or the Lansing (Mich.) Lugnuts, or the Las Vegas 51s.

In this morning’s Richmond Times-Dispatch, we learned the potential names of the Fill-in-the-Blanks. All five finalists are, well, to use a football term, this is a “fumble.” The choices:

* Flatheads. “A kind of catfish commonly found in the James River.” A bottom-feeder, in other words. Not to mention that a team called the Carolina Mudcats already plays in suburban Raleigh.

* Flying Squirrels. “Soar in Virginia.” Forget it, unless Rocky leaves Bullwinkle to become team mascot.

* Hambones. “Paying homage to Virginia ham.” Would make sense if the team was in Smithfield…sounds like a riff on the Montgomery Biscuits.

* Rock Hoppers. “People or animals on river rocks.” Not to be confused with grasshoppers or clodhoppers.

* Rhinos. Alliterative, “featuring a powerful image.” Does anyone else remember the failed attempt to get an NHL franchise in Norfolk, to be called the “Hampton Roads Rhinos”?

Fans can vote online for the winner, which will be announced Oct. 16. Too bad the date is set. The team’s owners need, to use a golf term, a “mulligan.”