SPRINGFIELD – U.S. District Court Judge Michael A. Ponsor will hear motions for a summary judgment this afternoon on the civil suit in which Mayor Daniel Knapik is charged with violating the civil rights of City Councilor David A. Flaherty, Municipal Light Board Commissioner Jane C. Wensley and David Costa during the November 2011 election.
The suit, filed by Attorneys William Newman and Luke Ryan of the American Civil Liberties Union in Northampton, alleges that Knapik ordered the removal of Flaherty’s and Wensley’s political signs from the property owned by Costa on West Silver Street, between Cross Street and Lindbergh Boulevard, almost directly across the street from Knapik’s East Silver Street residence.
Knapik, through Attorney Edward M. Pikula of Springfield, has countered that the political signs were illegally posted on the city’s tree belt and were an obstruction to the sight line of motorists exiting the two side streets, and that he acted to correct a safety hazard.
Ponsor will hear motions from both side to determine if the case can be resolved or if the judicial review process will continue to next October. The court has scheduled a pretrial conference for Oct. 1, 2013 at 2 p.m., with the trial set to commence on Oct. 21, 2013 at 9 a.m.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth P. Neiman, in the schedule notification, noted “that due to the court’s congested trail docket, the case may actually be called to trial on any day during the following four weeks” after the Oct. 21 date.
