Friday, August 19, 2016
Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN
An attorney who was held in contempt of court by Judge Robert Milich last month in municipal court is suing the city.
Andrea Burton filed a lawsuit Thursday against Judge Milich, his colleague Judge Elizabeth Kobly as well as the city.
She is claiming that her First Amendment rights of free speech and 14th Amendment rights of due process and equal protection under the law were violated.
Judge Milich ordered Burton, who is black, jailed July 22 after he asked her in chambers to remove a “Black Lives Matter” button.
She refused, and when they returned to open court, Judge Milich ordered her to take the button off again and she refused.
She was then taken into custody, but Judge Milich stayed his order after lawyers who negotiated for Burton worked out a compromise that Burton would not wear the button in court while an appeal of the citation was pending and also that she would adhere to the court’s dress code.
Read more about the case in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.