11-17-2008, 05:59 PM
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http://www.ldnews.com/ci_11004926?source=rss
Gun mom looks to sue sheriff
By JOHN LATIMER
Staff Writer
Lebanon Daily News
A Lebanon woman who achieved national notoriety when her concealed-weapon permit was taken away after she wore a gun openly to a youth soccer match has hired a lawyer to prepare for filing a federal civil lawsuit in the matter.
Meleanie Hain claims Lebanon County Sheriff Mike DeLeo violated her constitutional rights when he confiscated her license-to-carry permit after a parent complained when Hain wore her holstered handgun to her 5-year-old daughter’s soccer game played Sept. 11 at the city’s Southwest Park.
DeLeo said Hain showed poor judgment and created a danger by wearing her loaded Glock 26 to the youth soccer game. He justified his action to confiscate her permit on a statute of the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act that denies a permit to any “individual whose character and reputation is such that the individual would be likely to act in a dangerous manner to public safety.”
Hain’s permit was returned last month after she appealed DeLeo’s action.
In a hearing in the Lebanon County Court of Common Pleas, President Judge Robert J. Eby questioned Hain’s judgment but ruled that she violated no law by wearing the firearm openly, and DeLeo did not prove that Hain presented a danger.
Two weeks ago, Hain said, she hired Philadelphia-area civil-rights lawyer Matthew Weisberg to represent her.
Weisberg said he has sent a letter to DeLeo and sheriff’s department solicitor George Christianson notifying them of his intent to file a suit. He has taken no other formal action while awaiting their response.
“I served the sheriff and his solicitor with a notice of my claim and an intent to pursue a lawsuit if they refuse to settle, which I fully expect they will refuse to do,” Weisberg said.
Christianson acknowledged that DeLeo received the letter and promptly turned it over to the sheriff’s department’s liability-insurance carrier. He refused further comment, and DeLeo did not return a call.
Weisberg said he believes several of Hain’s rights were trampled, including her Second Amendment right to carry a firearm and elements of her Fourth Amendment right guaranteeing due process.
“I think her case, in terms of a winning legal perspective, is more complicated than just a Second Amendment case,” he said. “It is not so easy, because it is not necessarily about the denial of her Second Amendment rights and not necessarily about the denial of due process. Rather, it is about the intent to suppress those rights. That is what makes this case so complicated.”
If filed, the suit will seek damages for pain and suffering, but Weisberg did not say how much.
“I’m not there yet,” he said. “What could be the monetary value (of the damage) is hard to decipher. ... I would say that in some respects what she has lost is worse than actual personal injury or physical injury, because she has lost forever a feeling that she was guaranteed under the Constitution. Which is: You can trust police unless you do something wrong.”
Hain, the mother of three young children, said her life has changed, and she has become a target of ridicule and harassment.
She cited an incident in which a neighbor complained to a store manager when she spotted Hain wearing the gun while shopping. When the manager checked the laws, he told her she was permitted to carry the weapon in the store, according to Hain.
“Once I explained that these people were manipulating him for their own agenda, he wasn’t very pleased,” she said.
Hain said DeLeo’s actions have also caused her to lose customers at the babysitting business she operates in her South Second Avenue home. In addition, she feels she may have lost the opportunity to become a police officer because of the publicity generated by her case. She had planned to attend the state-police academy at her own expense, she said, but now she’s afraid she might not be hired because of the controversy.
Although much of the expense was offset by supporters’ donations, Hain said she was also irritated by having to pay $3,000 to defend herself at the appeals hearing.
“It (the lawsuit) is about money, but it is not about money,” she said. “It is wrong for me to have to pay out $3,000 in attorney’s fees to get back my license when I never should have lost it in the first place.”
If she wins any damages, Hain said, she would give the donated money to a fund kept by the Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association for people who must defend themselves in cases like hers.
JohnLatimer@LDNews.com
http://www.ldnews.com/ci_11004926?source=rss
Gun mom looks to sue sheriff
By JOHN LATIMER
Staff Writer
Lebanon Daily News
A Lebanon woman who achieved national notoriety when her concealed-weapon permit was taken away after she wore a gun openly to a youth soccer match has hired a lawyer to prepare for filing a federal civil lawsuit in the matter.
Meleanie Hain claims Lebanon County Sheriff Mike DeLeo violated her constitutional rights when he confiscated her license-to-carry permit after a parent complained when Hain wore her holstered handgun to her 5-year-old daughter’s soccer game played Sept. 11 at the city’s Southwest Park.
DeLeo said Hain showed poor judgment and created a danger by wearing her loaded Glock 26 to the youth soccer game. He justified his action to confiscate her permit on a statute of the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act that denies a permit to any “individual whose character and reputation is such that the individual would be likely to act in a dangerous manner to public safety.”
Hain’s permit was returned last month after she appealed DeLeo’s action.
In a hearing in the Lebanon County Court of Common Pleas, President Judge Robert J. Eby questioned Hain’s judgment but ruled that she violated no law by wearing the firearm openly, and DeLeo did not prove that Hain presented a danger.
Two weeks ago, Hain said, she hired Philadelphia-area civil-rights lawyer Matthew Weisberg to represent her.
Weisberg said he has sent a letter to DeLeo and sheriff’s department solicitor George Christianson notifying them of his intent to file a suit. He has taken no other formal action while awaiting their response.
“I served the sheriff and his solicitor with a notice of my claim and an intent to pursue a lawsuit if they refuse to settle, which I fully expect they will refuse to do,” Weisberg said.
Christianson acknowledged that DeLeo received the letter and promptly turned it over to the sheriff’s department’s liability-insurance carrier. He refused further comment, and DeLeo did not return a call.
Weisberg said he believes several of Hain’s rights were trampled, including her Second Amendment right to carry a firearm and elements of her Fourth Amendment right guaranteeing due process.
“I think her case, in terms of a winning legal perspective, is more complicated than just a Second Amendment case,” he said. “It is not so easy, because it is not necessarily about the denial of her Second Amendment rights and not necessarily about the denial of due process. Rather, it is about the intent to suppress those rights. That is what makes this case so complicated.”
If filed, the suit will seek damages for pain and suffering, but Weisberg did not say how much.
“I’m not there yet,” he said. “What could be the monetary value (of the damage) is hard to decipher. ... I would say that in some respects what she has lost is worse than actual personal injury or physical injury, because she has lost forever a feeling that she was guaranteed under the Constitution. Which is: You can trust police unless you do something wrong.”
Hain, the mother of three young children, said her life has changed, and she has become a target of ridicule and harassment.
She cited an incident in which a neighbor complained to a store manager when she spotted Hain wearing the gun while shopping. When the manager checked the laws, he told her she was permitted to carry the weapon in the store, according to Hain.
“Once I explained that these people were manipulating him for their own agenda, he wasn’t very pleased,” she said.
Hain said DeLeo’s actions have also caused her to lose customers at the babysitting business she operates in her South Second Avenue home. In addition, she feels she may have lost the opportunity to become a police officer because of the publicity generated by her case. She had planned to attend the state-police academy at her own expense, she said, but now she’s afraid she might not be hired because of the controversy.
Although much of the expense was offset by supporters’ donations, Hain said she was also irritated by having to pay $3,000 to defend herself at the appeals hearing.
“It (the lawsuit) is about money, but it is not about money,” she said. “It is wrong for me to have to pay out $3,000 in attorney’s fees to get back my license when I never should have lost it in the first place.”
If she wins any damages, Hain said, she would give the donated money to a fund kept by the Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association for people who must defend themselves in cases like hers.
JohnLatimer@LDNews.com
