The San Diego Minutemen asked a federal judge yesterday to allow the group to reclaim a piece of Interstate 5 as its assigned spot in Caltrans' Adopt-A-Highway litter cleanup program and to restore the state road sign with the group's name.
The anti-illegal immigration activists were granted a northbound stretch of the highway near the Border Patrol's San Clemente checkpoint in November. They were reassigned to state Route 52 near Santee in January after complaints to the agency about the group's controversial nature and the location near the checkpoint.
The agency cited safety concerns; the group, alleging free-speech discrimination, sued Caltrans the following month.
Yesterday, attorneys representing the group hoped to obtain a preliminary injunction that would allow the sign to be restored while the lawsuit is pending. The state, meanwhile, hoped to have the case dismissed.
District Judge William Q. Hayes is expected to issue a written decision soon. Depending on the outcome, the case could proceed to trial.
“We, of course, maintain that it was inappropriate to have them moved,” said Howard Kaloogian, an attorney representing the activists, after the hearing.
The group's Adopt-A-Highway sign, which sat south of the checkpoint, was up for about six weeks, Kaloogian said, and the group conducted a cleanup in January. The group's stretch of freeway was about two miles.
Attorneys representing the Minutemen argue that the state caved in to political pressure to remove the sign and in doing so discriminated against the group.
The state has maintained that safety is the reason that the group was moved off the interstate, citing the possibility that the Minutemen's presence could attract protests.
“Our general position is the safety of the people collecting the trash on the highway, and the cars on the highway as well,” said Hayden Manning, a Caltrans spokesman in San Diego. “Our number-one rule for everything is safety, and that's anywhere, not just with this area that's in litigation.”
The stretch of highway in question has since been removed from the program, Caltrans said. Meanwhile, the Minutemen have not taken the new spot offered near Santee.
“There are no safety concerns,” San Diego Minutemen leader Jeff Schwilk said yesterday. “It's all a smoke screen for the real reason for pulling us off. We want this one back.”
Both sides said they were optimistic about the court outcome. Jeff Benowitz, an attorney for the state Department of Transportation in San Diego, said a decision could come as early as next week.
Leslie Berestein: (619) 542-4579; leslie.berestein@uniontrib.com
