Opinion: Cuffing free speech in Key West

The police chief didn't like what a newspaper was saying about his department, so he arrested the editor. While such abuses of power happen frequently in banana republics, you don't expect them in Florida. Yet last week, Key West police Chief Gordon "Buz" Dillon handcuffed Dennis Reeves Cooper and booked him into the city jail. Cooper is the feisty owner and editor of the weekly Key West The Newspaper that has been critical of Dillon's department.

In making the arrest, Dillon cited Florida statute 112.533, which makes it a crime for anyone who participates in an internal investigation of a police officer, including the complainant, to disclose any information about the investigation before it is made public. Cooper had not only written critically about Dillon's department, he had also filed a complaint about it with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The gag law is seldom used anymore, and for good reason. It is an unconstitutional infringement of free speech.

A federal district judge, William Zlock, ruled that way in 1990, saying "this statute chills free speech and chills the expression of truthful information." So why would Dillon use an unconstitutional law to justify an arrest?

James Green, a public interest lawyer in West Palm Beach, has the likely answer: "The unconstitutionality of this statute has been so clearly established for so long that the only possible justification for this can be retaliation, and that's not a permissible objective under the First Amendment."

A minor incident in 1996 sparked the series of events that led to Cooper's arrest. A bicyclist stopped for riding after dark without a light later accused the Key West police officer of lying under oath during the court hearing. Later, the police department said it investigated the allegation against the officer and ruled it "unfounded."

Cooper looked at police records and discovered evidence that the officer had lied, yet there was no indication that an internal investigation had been conducted. In other words, he found that a small lie by an officer had been followed by the department's bigger lie, information that Key West residents should know.

Cooper wrote about his findings, and he filed a complaint with the FDLE when the chief would not discuss the matter. The state agency then gave Dillon 45 days to investigate the complaint, which Cooper reported. Last Friday, Cooper wrote a commentary piece speculating that Dillon might not be forthcoming with the FDLE. Later that day the chief got an arrest warrant on Cooper, using the unconstitutional gag law.

Even in a town known mostly for its bacchanalian Fantasy Fest and daily sunset celebrations, the police chief's behavior is outrageous. The Key West city manager and commissioners should be embarrassed enough to demand his badge. Dillon's behavior is unacceptable in a democracy.

The arrest is not likely to stop Cooper or other journalists from prying into police department operations. To the contrary. "I think it will make people in town believe that this is a coverup," said David Ethridge, editor of another Key West weekly, Solares Hill.

But it does portray Florida as a backwater Margaritaville for keeping anachronistic gag laws on the books for bullies like Chief Dillon to use at their whim.

The Florida Legislature should remove the gag law and any other unconstitutional statutes before more harm is done.

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