April 27, 2006: Norton Says Rejection of Permit That Would Endanger Residents Was Inescapable

Norton Says Rejection of Permit That Would Endanger Residents Was Inescapable
April 27, 2006

Washington, DC-- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today said that “the D.C. Public Space Committee acted rationally and responsibly,” in denying a permit for the Supreme Court to erect pop-up security barriers in the roadway and sidewalk bollards on the 200 block A Street, NE, in back of the Supreme Court purportedly to protect the Court from truck bombs, but in the process endangering residents’ lives and homes. Norton yesterday wrote Chief Justice John Roberts asking that he delay efforts to erect the barriers until she could complete the consultations with government security officials in which she is now engaged.

The Public Space Committee, a part of the D.C. Department of Transportation’s Public Space Management Administration, held a hearing today on the permit and heard testimony from Supreme Court Marshal Pamela Talkin, who is in charge of security for the Court; and from residents opposed to her security plan.

Norton said that the Supreme Court security proposal marked the first time that any federal security official had pressed a plan that would have risked the sacrifice of the lives and homes of American citizens in order to protect an official site and its occupants. “Today’s decision does no more than what the citizens, who are at risk and I requested. The decision sends all involved back to the drawing boards to get additional experts advice, agree to the necessary compromises, and produce a solution that protects the Supreme Court and protects the citizens who live and pay taxes here,” Norton said.