Stock show boots petitioner

By Kevin Woster, Journal Staff Writer | Thursday, February 02, 2006

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RAPID CITY - Well-known Libertarian political activist Bob Newland of Hermosa found a generally receptive crowd at the Black Hills Stock Show this week for his campaign to legalize marijuana for medical purposes.

He also found himself under arrest for violating restrictions on gathering petition signatures inside Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.

Newland was arrested Tuesday by Rapid City police officers and booked for failure to vacate. He is scheduled to appear in 7th Circuit Court at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

“I’ll plead not guilty and ask for a trial as quickly as possible,” Newland said Tuesday evening after being released on bond. “My view is that this is just wrong. Anybody can go into those public hallways and talk about anything at anytime. It’s owned by the public.”

Civic center manager Brian Maliske said Wednesday that Newland was asked to leave several times before he was arrested. Maliske said the civic center allows those who rent the facility to determine what activities are allowed during the rental period.

“As a building, that’s our policy, unless otherwise designated,” Maliske said. “To me, it’s like renting a motel room.”

The Central States Fair rents the civic center for the stock show, and it leases booth space for a variety of vendors, including petition drives, Maliske said.

“We have several folks who leased out space this year and are doing petition drives inside,” he said. “Bob was just walking the halls, and the Central States Fair folks were getting a number of complaints. They asked him to leave, and he refused.”

Newland had been gathering petition signatures outside the building. But when it got windy and cold Tuesday, he decided to move inside. He knew it was against regulations.

“Over a period of several years, I’ve been aware that the civic center had this policy. I never needed to test it,” he said. “We had a nice, receptive crowd there, and my fingers were getting cold.”

Newland said the crowd at the stock show was more receptive than any other he had experienced in his drive to legalize marijuana for medical purposes.

“It was a very receptive crowd, the best crowd I’ve worked since I started this,” he said. “Half the people I approached signed my petition. By the end of the week, we’ll have 3,000 to 4,000 signatures.”

Newland, who has been an unsuccessful candidate for public office on the Libertarian ticket, is petition circulation coordinator for South Dakotans for Safe Access. He said he was surprised at how willing the largely rural crowd was to sign his petition to make medicinal marijuana legal.

“I suspect it’s because cowboys, especially old cowboys, know a lot about pain,” he said.

Newland said he would continue to seek petition signatures outside the building.

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com