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Sticker Distribution Press Release
by Dave Doctor
If you hand out anti-curfew stickers, you'll help hundreds of people. If you get in the paper or on TV, you'll help thousands. Below this message, you'll find a press release that you can use to promote your sticker distribution efforts. By sending out a personalized version of the press release, you will encourage TV, newspaper, radio, and web reporters to write an article about you and the stickers. Use the sample provided below or contact NYRA for help writing one uniquely for you.
Simply call the main numbers of your local news organizations and ask for the fax numbers and e-mail addresses for press releases. NYRA may be able to help you find fax numbers, send us an e-mail. Reporters need to find news. Make it easy for them by sending them news about your stickers. A stream of press releases during the protests in San Diego resulted in numerous articles in the local newspapers, appearances on talk-radio shows, and coverage by MTV.
Please note that you must remove two paragraphs from the press release depending on whether your curfew has a First Amendment exception. For example, San Diego's curfew states that the curfew does apply not to a person who is exercising his First Amendment right. To find out if your curfew has the exception, call the police or City Hall.
When you call the police or your local politicians, they may discourage you from distributing stickers or claim that the stickers will not exempt you from the curfew. However, they may not actually know if you can be out past curfew with the stickers.
It is likely that a judge has not decided if the stickers are an adequate means to exercise your First Amendment rights. You will not know if the stickers work until a teenager in your area gets arrested after curfew with a sticker, pleads innocent, and then goes to court, where a judge will have to issue a decision.
To personalize the press release, change the bracketed information to your personal information and then remove the brackets. Also, if you plan to fax or mail the press release, it must fit on one page to make sure that there is no chance of anyone losing a second page. If necessary, make the informational lines at the beginning a very small font size. Also, as a matter of tradition, end your press release with: -30-
Be sure to contact NYRA to let us know in advance, and to ask any questions you may have. Here is a short list of directions:
- Change bracketed information to your personal information
- Feel free to change the press release but keep it objective. As you'll notice, all biased remarks are in quotes.
- Keep it to less than one page
- Keep the "-30-" at the end. (it is a tradition)
- Send, fax, or email it to every radio station, TV station, and newspaper
- Be ready to take a call from the press. Practice your answers if you have the time. If you do not want to answer a question, you can refuse to answer the question, ask to respond at a later date or simply say, "no comment." Always be friendly and try to make it easy for the reporter to write the story.
Here is the press release:
News from [Your Name]
[Your City, Your State]
For Immediate Release: Today’s Date
For additional information:
[Your Name]
Phone: [Your Phone Number]
e-mail: [Your e-mail address]
WW: [Your website address, contact NYRA if you need a page]
Local student distributes antidote to curfew
[Your city], [Your state] -- Local student [First name] [Last name] is distributing anti-curfew stickers throughout [your city]. [Last name] claims the stickers do more than protest the curfew, they may also allow the wearer to legally stay out past the curfew, which forbids people under the age of 18 from being out past [your curfew's time] p.m.
The stickers prominently display statements such as "Hanging Out is not a Crime," "Repeal the Curfew," and, "Protest the Curfew." The fine print below each headline includes the following statement: "Wear this sticker and exert your First Amendment right to protest the curfew. Courts have ruled that the government must allow you to exercise your First Amendment rights AT ANY TIME."
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(Use next two paragraphs only if your city DOES NOT have a First Amendment exception.)
Due to court cases, many cities, such as San Diego, California, revised their curfews to specifically include a First Amendment exception. [Your city]'s curfew does not currently have the exception, but [last name] claims that it may be unnecessary because, "all citizens enjoy the freedoms of the First Amendment."
A court case in Boston, Massachusetts possibly confirms [his/her] claim. Several activists against homelessness were arrested for violating a city park's curfew, which did not have a First Amendment exception. However, they were eventually acquitted because they were exercising their First Amendment rights. The judge explained his decision by saying, "the question of constitutionality is always before the court."
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(Use the next paragraph only if your city DOES have a First Amendment exception.)
The stickers take advantage of a First Amendment exception, which is written into the law. Most cities include this exception due to numerous court cases in which judges have ruled that curfews are unconstitutional. The exception may satisfy the courts' constitutional concerns.
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A Federal Appeals Court recently allowed a Charlottesville, Virginia curfew because contained exceptions, which allowed minors to exercise, "First Amendment rights...such as the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech and the right of assembly." The Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the ACLU, which represented teenagers from Charlottesville.
[Last name] has not encountered the local police while wearing a sticker but [s/he] is ready for a lawsuit if they do not honor [his/her] right to express [his/her] political opinion at any time. Each one of the stickers states, "If you're arrested, you have the right to plead NOT GUILTY, fight the curfew citation, and sue your city for violating your First Amendment rights. Just because the police say you're guilty, does not mean it's true."
[Last name], who attends [list name] high/middle school, received the stickers from the National Youth Rights Association, which led curfew protests in Washington, DC during the fall of 1999. [Last name] learned about the group [on the Internet while searching for information about curfews].
-30-
Stage a protest march and alert the press with our Protest March press release.
Return to the Curfew Action area.
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