UPDATED PRESS RELEASE
HEARING FOR RESTRAINING ORDER AGAINST ASHCROFT TO BE HELD 9:30AM WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29TH

CHERI HONKALA AND THE KENSINGTON WELFARE RIGHTS UNION
VS. UNITED STATES ATTORNEY JOHN ASHCROFT AND THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

WHAT: Cheri Honkala and the Kensington Welfare Rights Union have filed a temporary restraining order to stop the Justice Department from interfering with Philadelphia's municipal election.

The motion has been filed in Federal Court by Attorney Michael Coard ( Civil Action No. 03-5903). It will be presided over by Judge Louis H. Pollack.

WHEN & WHERE: Press Conference to begin Wednesday, October 29th at 9:30am at the Federal Justice Building (615 Chestnut Street. The hearing is scheduled to take place at 10am.

BACKGROUND: Ms. Honkala is asking the Federal Court to stop the Justice Department from interfering with Philadelphia's municipal election. "More important than the guilt or innocence of one person, more precious than the outcome of any one election, is the sanctity of the democratic process" said Ms. Honkala, as she announced that she and the KWRU will be filing suit.

"The Justice Department, by the timing of the investigation and the leaks, is violating the very core of our democratic process - to be allowed to pick our elected officials without outside interference" she added.

The request for the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) is based upon the legal precedent established in a 1984 Alabama Case, Smith vs. Meese, involving an attempt to influence an election by selective investigations and prosecution.